Advice needed re crazy high water bill

[dandelionsticks]

Hi, hoping to get some advice as I'm quite stressed about this. My elderly parents were hit with an extortionate water bill last summer. The water company only bills biannually so we had no idea and there is no way to monitor water usage more frequently. I called and they agreed something wasn't right and suggested they had a leak somewhere. We had plumbers in and checked everything, tested by not using water for several hours and seeing if water meter changed. Thought it was all sorted. Unfortunately, we had to pay the bill in full. Six months later, the water bill is even higher! My parents are elderly and low income. I can pay it for them but i cant keep paying such a high bill. It's £800!!! They are shielding and live a 6 hour drive away and I'm quite stressed trying to work out how to help them from afar (whilst juggling work and homeschooling my kids). My parents aren't very clued up about these things so I also worry about having just anyone round and taking advantage. I had a similar issue when I was younger and was charged £1000 to fix the "leak" when actually the leak turned out to be a leaky shower pipe, which another plumber spotted quickly and fixed.

Sorry, I'm rambling. My question is, any advice on what to do in this situation? The water company won't help and say it's on us to check no leaks and test using the water meter. We've done everything they've asked. Not sure where this leaves us. We can't keep paying for different plumbers to check the entire house for potential leaks. In any case, there shouldn't be any as we tested this by not using water for half a day to see if the meter went up.

Any advice would be much appreciated. It's worrying my parents and me too. Sadly, we don't have any family or friends near my parents who can help either.

Have you investigated a leak between the house and the road - sounds like you have only looked within the property? My late mother in law had this issue and it was discovered there was a leak under her driveway. Sorry I can't recall whether she had to bear the costs of that.
I would advise using the water company's complaints procedure to escalate the matter to get them to take it more seriously

Like pp my friend had this and there was a leak under the front drive/garden
Cos it was their property I think they had to pay for it
I now pay for pipe insurance just in case but I hope your parents get this sorted op

Check what the neighbours are paying. Some older premises may have shared pipes. Consider getting a meter fitted

Dm had similar and an investigation was initiated by the water company after a sudden increase in consumption. If it was found within her property she (or insurance) would have to pay but as it was not the water company found and repaired it.

We had a couple of similar water bills at old property and it just seemed to come from DH leaving the tap running for our elderly cat and a leaking bath tap.

I would just go back to water company and see what they suggest, even if they could tell you who to contact would be helpful and I would complain if they won't help stating your parents are elderly and vulnerable. It maybe worth asking neighbours as well if they are able to though would imagine its an issue on or near their property.

If you are not sure about the plumber I've always found the Trustmark ones good, if there aren't any if there's a town Facebook or similar ask for recommendations and see if there's one coming out consistently which appears good and trustworthy. Sure you will have done this already but I would also check again with your parents if they've noticed any water anywhere however small like is the garden wetter than normal, have they been doing anything like leaving any taps on for cats if applicable (maybe ask seperately ), anything wet that shouldn't be in house which might give a clue to a leak or any dripping taps. Over a long time it can be quite a small amount.

Hope you can find a solution.

No idea who this company are but if its legitimate this looks type of thing that might help if get nowhere with water company and also mentions claiming on house insurance (though that may increase premiums):

www.adileakdetection.co.uk/

I agree with the posters who say the leak must be outside the actual property - between the house and the road.

We had the same issue and it was a leak on the supply pipe in the street.
You need to ask the water company to come out and check this if you've exhausted other options. I'm surprised they haven't offered, it's their responsibility.

In our experience, once they had discovered the leak they were really good. Our bill was put on hold whilst they fixed the leak. We then filled in a form detailing how long it had been going on for etc.
They then monitored our water usage for 2 weeks to see what was 'normal' for us.
We were then reimbursed for about £1000 for the water we had been billed for during the period of the leak.

We also had this and it was under the drive as well.

Advise to check outside of the house if not already done.

Where is the meter ? Ours is in the house , so I leak outside wouldn’t make any difference. If it’s at the stop tap in the street then you could have a leak underground between there and the house.

It sounds like you have tested that there is no leak between the water meter and the house. Is that correct?

We pay £650 a year to Anglian Water for a house with 5 people....where we try to be careful....but I do 9 loads of washing a week. Anglican are not one of the cheaper providers either.

£800 for 6 months sounds excessive. Unless they are watering the garden daily....and with the rain over the winter that is unlikely. Was this last bill based on a meter reading or an estimate? - if it was an estimate based on the fact there was a previous leak - they might let you submit an actual reading and redo the bill.

We had something similar, the water supplier came out to investigate and insisted the problem lay within our property and said thre was an issue with our water tank. We replaced it at a cost of £600. This didn't fix the problem. To cut a long story short we then spent a fortune investigating what was causing it.
Eventually we spoke to our home insurance company. They sent someone out to investigate the next day and they found the issue within minutes. It was outside our property and the responsibility of the water company all along.
We got some money back but not a lot. My advice- speak to your parents' insurance company.

Thanks everyone. Sorry, I've been out and phone died. Didn't mean to post and not respond.

Some really helpful suggestions here which I would not have thought of. I spent ages on the phone last summer trying to get the water company to investigate and they refused saying they couldn't do anything. I will try again. Sounds like it might be outside the property. I checked with the neighbours last time and their water bills are normal. My parents shower rather than have baths and store rain water in a butt so are extremely modest in their water consumption! I will also call the insurance company to see if a call out to investigate is possibly covered. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again to everyone who posted. I really, really appreciate it.

I don't understand pointing at the pipe outside by so many people.
If the water meter didn't move for half a day, it's unlikely to be the pipe outside.
I would say check all the things that use water eg check that when you flush the toilet, it shuts off promptly on the fill, rather than dumping an extra few hundred Litres down the overflow.
Same goes for the washing machine etc, you'd have to read the meter before and after running it.
Really with the distance it's tricky to deal with it, but if it was my place I'd read the meter every day to see if it happened a certain day, and maybe even every hour.
Another one is a hose pipe or similar being left on.

Turn all taps, washing machine, hoses off. Then check if the meter outside the house is still moving. If it then you likely have a leak somewhere or something using water you aren’t aware of. You can then turn off the stopcock in the house and identify whether it is the supply into the house (ie if the meter is still going round despite the stopcock being off then the leak is on the supply into the house) - so likely under a driveway or path.

Your home insurance may be able to help as may your water company (Thames water sent out two engineers to confirm it was a dripping kitchen tap in our case).

No idea about the leak but if they are elderly and low income there may be a tariff aimed towards them, obviously depending on water company and criteria but most water companies have something in place where the amount paid per year is capped.

So it sounds like you have confirmed that there isn't a leak by confirming the meter didn't move when water not used for a long enough period? The only other thought then is that the meter is faulty?

I can't see how they would use that much water unless they are watering their garden or similar. We have a bill that size for a family of 4 with baths and showers every day, dishwasher and washing machine on every day and car washing each week plus watering loads of plant pots outside in summer!,

We had this, and the leak was on our property, just in from the pavement; so it was our responsibilty. Luckily our home insurance covered it.

Flat or house?

For a house, the problem is, the water is billed depending on what flows through your meter which is usually either within or just before your property line. So if there is a leak, its most likely your responsibility to solve.

If its a flat, then make sure the water company is taking the correct reading and from the correct meter. (Also, check this even if its a house).

Also, if its a flat, but the leak is after the meter but before your flat, then the management company usually need to fix it.

Apart from leaks, in your boiler, if there is a faulty valve, this can also cause water to keep flowing out.

Thanks everyone. I'm working my way through the tips below. I've also compared the rates they have against the water company providing my water. Their rates are much higher (£80 for the same litre usage!). Good idea to see if they can change their water rates. I had no idea rain water removal charge was even a thing

Check:
• garden taps
• toilet overflows aren't running
• header tank overflows aren't running
• washing machine supply
• dishwasher supply
• replace leaky taps with new washers
• look for puddles outside that don't disappear
when the weather is dry
• look for boggy areas and lush foliage in the

garden where you wouldn't expect them.
• lift manhole covers and see if clean water is
running into the sewer when nothing is
discharging water indoors.

Check with the neighbours to see if turning off the water at the external stop tap turns off their water too. Older properties quite often have shared supplies and that might mean that they are paying for other houses usage.
If it's a flat that was converted from a house, check each flat has its own supply (they are supposed to but some developers have been known not to provide individual supplies).
The meter should have a serial number imprinted on it .This is unique and should be held on the water company records. Check this matches their records correctly.
The meter should also have a disc on them. It doesn't measure anything but does indicate flow and would move even if the water leak is too small to clock up on the dial.
Ask the water company when the meter was last replaced. They are calibrated to a BS Standard but they only have a life of 10-15 years and need replacing.

If you believe the meter is faulty ask the water company to send it off for testing. It may cost you a fee if no fault is found.

Finally check that the bills haven't been underpaid previously and there's now an increased bill to cover the previous shortfall.

@dandelionsticks

Is the meter in the road outside or inside the house? If in the road and then there is an underground pipe into the house, then that is most likely the issue. I've had two friends with this problem...huge bills...new pipe laid and problem solved. However, the pipe is your responsibility and not the water company

We had this and they told us the same as you.

I then went and read the water meter myself and found it was caked in mud so barely readable and they'd misread the first number so charged us for an extra 1000 units.

This only happened once though so wouldn't explain the second high bill.

Speak with water board as there were some rules around max charges for vulnerable that they could put on a meter

Phone the insurer your parents may have trace & access cover & loss of metered water cover. Importantly they should have vetted firms on their books who deal with finding these problems every day