Incorrectly charged for leak

I just wanted to get in contact to say we have finally got somewhere with our water company, thanks to you guys getting involved! I really appreciate your help.

The issue

When Ms M moved into her property, she set up a direct debit of £40 which she felt would be more than enough to cover her usage. However, when she received her first bill, it was more than double this amount. She contacted her water company who advised her that it was possible that there was an internal leak, which Ms M would be responsible for getting fixed.

Ms M paid a plumber to visit her property on four separate occasions to locate the leak, but it wasn’t until the final check that it was discovered the leak was outside her home on the water company’s pipework.

What we found

We asked the water company to provide us with meter readings they had taken since Ms M had moved into the property and asked if these were in in line with single occupancy averages. If they weren’t, we wanted to know why the issue had not been flagged up sooner.

We also asked the company to review its call notes with Ms M who told us she had received conflicting information about the leak on a number of occasions. Compensation should be considered for any service failings and we also asked the company to reimburse Ms M for the costs of hiring a plumber.

 Putting it right

The company agreed to backdate Ms M’s bills to single occupancy from the date she moved into the property, until the leak was fixed. It also reimbursed Ms M for the cost of hiring a private plumber and provided an additional £20 as an acknowledgement of customer service failings.