AIBU to calculate water overpayment this way

[Nillynooly123]

To cut a very long story short, we moved into a new build flat almost 5yrs ago, and have recently discovered that the builders mislabelled all of the water metres when notifying the water company, meaning all residents have been paying the wrong bill since moving in. This has taken the water company over 6months to resolve since the error was detected.

I received a bill for the 'wrong' meter at the beginning of March for almost £500, significantly more than the £170 bill received by my neighbour for my actual meter. The water company have then sent an amended bill few weeks later, for the correct meter, claiming that I still owe them over £300 once accounts have been amended.

I have spoken to my neighbour who has been receiving the bills for my meter since we moved in (same move in date) and totalled up the charges on those bills from then until now. I have then added up the amounts we have paid to the water company since moving in - which amounts to just over £100 more than the charges on the bills. By my working out, we have therefore overpaid by just over £100 since moving in.

I have flagged this as part of my complaint with the water company, to have them thank me for taking the time to gather the info but tell me that i was incorrect and this is not their 'process' for working out what is owed in these circumstances.
The water company are working out that since moving in, the meter I was incorrectly billed for has used 600 meters cubed of water, and my actual meter has used 515 meters cubed and so I have been overcharged for 85 meters cubed of water. They have then calculated the cost of this and 'refunded' the amount (around £180) from the almost £500 bill i received for the wrong meter in March, meaning that I still owe them over £300.

I am baffled as to how there can be such a massive discrepancy in the amount owed and am almost certain that I am right in how I've worked things out, but just wanted to get other people's views. So thank you if you've made it this far.....and bonus points for any advice on what my next steps should be as they just don't seem to get where I'm coming from.

AIBU?

• YABU - The water company is correct and you owe them.

-YANBU - You are correct and your account should be in credit.

Tell them you want them to provide a detailed breakdown of the usage/charge per year for your actual meter. I would imagine you could then match up year by year vs your bills (if you have them) or your payments and see where any discrepancies might be between your calculations and theirs.

Also check the volume of usage on neighbours bills and if that corresponds to the usage they say you have on your meter over the full time.
Given the stunning incompetence with the meters I certainly wouldn’t be rushing to trust what they say.

Are you and your neighbour on different rates? That could account for the difference between the value and the quantity.

I didn't realise this was a thing? What would the reasoning be for us being on different rates?
I will look into this.

You need to factor in the standing charge and the metered amount.

However if your neighbour has paid your bill since moving in and there is a final bill on actuals rather than an estimate then I would stick with your calculations and ask
them to prove why it’s wrong.

In those bills sent in error to your neighbour the calculated what was owed until X date so they can’t just say it’s wrong now.

I don't know the answer, but make sure you download all of your bills (if electronic) immediately. Some companies do adjust retroactively

Is the neighbour on a half priced tariff due to benefits? Ours is only 22 a month non metered but next door is 44.

If your neighbour has been paying your meter ask them for copies of the bills for the however many years they have. Then add up and subtract and then that calculation along with the bills are say here’s the proof of what my usage actually was

So this is what I've done. We are only billed twice per year so she has sent me all of the bills she has received for my meter since 2020 when the flats were built. I have added up all payments we have made via our monthly dd since moving in and collated all of the info in a spreadsheet which I've sent to them. This is when they then came back to tell me I was wrong and that this wasn’t their process.

The standard charge and metered amount would have been calculated in the bills sent to my neighbour and therefore have been factored in.

My neighbour has been paying my bill and I have been paying a different neighbours bill if that makes sense....so flat 1 has been paying flat 9, flat 9 paying flat 4, flat 4 paying flat 2, etc. (There is no particular pattern to how this mix up has happened).

All of the monthly bills received by each flat have been based on actual meter readings over the almost 5 yrs. Our meters aren't very accessible and so the water company attend twice per year to take readings. I understand why they cannot use bills in situations where there have been estimated readings or changes of tenants/residents, but i would have thought it was pretty straight forward when we've all moved in at the same time as it's almost just like redirecting the bills.

I would definitely push back and ask them how on Earth they think you owe £300 more than what your neighbour paid for the water you used. They aren’t using current prices are they?

It sounds like your neighbour is getting a lower rate?
What is the breakdown of the standing charge and the unit cost per m3?
In my view this refund process looks odd. They should be presenting you with a new bill showing the total water consumption for the correct meter and then looking at how much you've paid and then if there is a difference that is what is paid or refunded.
I'd complain to the ombudsman if you can't get a proper answer out of them.

Thank you everyone.
They have written back to my stage 2 complaint today and have explained their original process for working out and then have acknowledged that this is not 'fair' based on previous rates of consumption being much lower and their current working out being based on an average rate since 2020.
So all in all they've agreed my account is in £50 credit. I make it just over £100 by my calculations but not sure it's worth going back to them again at this stage! Maybe I just need to take the win!