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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 3:00 pm
by GB_Groundworks
grandma died last year just had a 3600 water bill for an empty house, so this is second hand off my mum long story ensues and united utilities coming to dig up on grandma's front garden.
so questions
are we liable for the water lost past the metre
and can we do the excavation rather than united utilities, will they charge us.
were not on mains water at our yard so always done it our selves and new builds etc never had a problem till now?
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:37 pm
by lutonlagerlout
all the utility companies are dogs giles
I had an electric bill for £1200,when i rang up and gave them merry hell it dropped to £200,still fighting that
of course they try and bully the old ,the weak ,and the vulnerable
LLL
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:24 pm
by msh paving
In this area anglian water are responsible, any leak on property owners side of meter is owners problem to fix other side of meter is there prob.if meter is leaking its there prob
but they can give you a 3 day notice to fix, if not done they can do it and charge you MSH 
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:13 pm
by flowjoe
Giles
It used to be that they were responsible up to the stop tap which was usually on the boundary line, if the leak was on the property side of the stop tap you could repair it yourself.
Then the swines introduced LeakLine after getting their arse kicked by Ofwat, through the Leak Line scheme they would come and do the repair on your side of the stop tap in order to save losing water.
This took a lot of work from us but then the odd job or two started to come back to us, U,U would not touch a leak under a foundation of a house or beneath a particularly expensive drive, they were in effect picking a choosing the jobs.
All of which leads me to this, i dont know anymore !, there are so many grey areas with these people and you never get the same answer twice.
You may well get the repair free, but you will the have to fight tooth and nail over the bill.
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 7:50 pm
by Dave_L
But what is the query here, the huge bill or the repair?
Wessex water retract/reduce big bills via leaks in service pipework.
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:30 pm
by GB_Groundworks
two queries
can they charge you for water through a metre thats leaked be it at the metre or upto the stop tap its not in the house, been under the floor an dits dry.
but grandma's well her old water metre was in the road by the neighbours drive. comes along pavement 3 metres does a 90 turn into her driveway,
sod paying some other monkeys to dig it up when we've got machines sat here.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:56 pm
by irishpaving
Giles have you had the water board come out & test leakage there already
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:51 pm
by GB_Groundworks
they've been out yeah and united utilities but not digging till monday morning
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 8:28 pm
by irishpaving
The leak would have to be at the base of the meter or just before it for them to be responsible any where after that then it's down to you. And if it is on your side you have every right to sort this problem yourself. There's no way i would personally allow them to have utility's do the work at there excesive charges and still charge you for the outstanding water bill.
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 11:45 pm
by GB_Groundworks
ok so this is my point, does it become our resposibility on our land or from the back of the metre as from the metre to the boundary it runs about 2 metres then turns into our property, i'm guessing its no till it get onto out land that its out responsibility.
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:25 am
by mickg
it used to be the pipework on your land what you responsible for but they might say its from the stop tap/water meter
if you dig a trial hole in the same line as the water main on your grandma's property, if the pipe is leaking then the hole will fill up with water and to get a bill for £3,600 it must be a bad leak so you will soon find water if this is the case
personally I would dig the trial hole by hand as you won't know the depth of the water main until you find it, should be 2'-6" but as you know it could be less
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:31 pm
by irishpaving
The water company are able to test and give you an exact location of the leak. Should be no need for trial holes but if you have them arriving on monday then you will have to do what mick said & locate the leak yourself. You need to kick up a lot of fuss if you want them to respond or they will carry on & post you another large bill. Personally i would cancel them doing any work untill you get inspector out for test and go from there. Depends if you have a large wallet and dont mind spending few more k
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 6:03 pm
by rab1
thank god we live in Scotland. flat rate depending on the size of house for domestic customers per year. :;):
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:12 pm
by GB_Groundworks
useless no show
i started digging
half inch copper pin hole in underside 1000 cu metres of water gone somewhere haha
Edited By GB_Groundworks on 1266869603
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:22 pm
by irishpaving
is it on there side giles or not... who put copper there