Billed incorrectly for two meters

The issue

Following a leak, the owner of a care home was advised by engineers that her property appeared to be being billed using two meters rather than one – both having been in place since 1998. Ms S got in touch with an independent plumber to investigate the issue, and they concluded that both meters were measuring the same water consumption, meaning that the customer was paying twice. Ms S contacted her retailer, who advised that as she was a business customer, it was the responsibility of her wholesaler to investigate issues relating to infrastructure. This is when Ms S got in touch with CCWater for help.

What we found

We contacted the retailer and advised that they should take on board the findings of the independent plumber. In addition, as the company responsible for providing customer service, they were responsible for arranging for her wholesaler to send out an engineer to examine the issue.
Because of our investigation, her retailer did agree to arrange for an engineer to investigate the two meters. This resulted in them agreeing with the independent assessment that the second meter at the care home was capturing no unique consumption and as such the customer was being charged twice.

Putting it right

We argued that her wholesaler should have been monitoring the consumption and should have known that the second meter was recording the same data as the first. We asked that the company refund all charges relating to the second meter, which they agreed to do. Ms S received a refund of more than £18500 in total.