Man Faces Thousands in Water Bills for Neighbor's Leak Due to Meter Mix-Up
Richard Cooper was left stunned when he checked his water account in early April, only to find it had plummeted from £357 in credit to £199.98 in debit with Thames Water in just a few months since November. To his dismay, he was warned that another bill exceeding £1,000 was on its way, sparking immediate concern and confusion.
Discovery of a Suspected Leak
Upon contacting Thames Water, Mr. Cooper's worries escalated when he was informed that a significant leak at his property was losing six litres of water per hour. This revelation threatened to leave him with a bill running into thousands of pounds, putting financial strain on his household in Toothill, where he lives with his partner and son.
"I rang Thames Water and they said there was a huge leak," Mr. Cooper recounted. "They told me to get a plumber to investigate immediately." However, when a plumber arrived promptly to inspect the entire house, no leak was found. The plumber even conducted a test by having Mr. Cooper's partner flush the toilet while monitoring the meter outside, which confirmed the system was functioning properly as the meter only moved during the flush.
Uncovering the Critical Error
The breakthrough came when Mr. Cooper, while at his job at a Swindon warehouse, sought advice from a workmate who had previously worked for Thames Water. "I asked a workmate who used to work for Thames Water and he said I should check the serial number on my bill against the serial number on the meter," he explained. Upon checking, Mr. Cooper discovered that the nine-figure numbers on his bill and meter differed by a single digit, revealing he was being charged for another person's leak recorded on a separate property's meter.
This meter mix-up meant that Mr. Cooper's account was incorrectly linked to a different property, leading to erroneous billing for usage that was not his own. He attempted to resolve the issue by contacting his neighbors and Thames Water directly, but faced slow responses and vague assurances. "My partner and I made calls and sent emails to Thames Water, but they weren't very responsive," he said, noting that after one call, he was told to fill out a leak form and received only a promise of investigation without a timeline for resolution.
Resolution and Company Response
After Mr. Cooper reached out to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which subsequently contacted Thames Water, he quickly received a phone call from the company. "They said it was 100 per cent their fault, and they were deleting the bill and putting it right," he reported. Thames Water has since fully acknowledged the error, attributing it to an incorrect entry of his meter number into their system.
A spokesperson for Thames Water stated: "We apologise to Mr. Cooper for the distress caused over this issue. His meter number was entered incorrectly into our system, which meant that he was billed on the wrong meter. We have now rectified his account to the correct details and are setting up a new payment plan to charge him for his correct water usage over the last twelve months. We will be undertaking a service review to learn from these failings and will also be crediting Mr. Cooper's account with a goodwill gesture as recognition of the stress caused by our mistake."
Lessons for Other Customers
Mr. Cooper has expressed a desire for others to benefit from his experience, emphasizing the importance of vigilance in checking billing details. "I'm not trying to make any money from this, I just don't want to be paying for someone else's leak," he said. He advises all water customers to regularly compare the serial number on their bills with the one on their actual meter to prevent similar issues.
"Even if they're wrong, you might not notice for a long while, but you could be paying for someone else's usage," he warned. "If they have a leak, it's a shock when you suddenly get a huge bill." This case highlights the potential for billing errors in utility services and underscores the need for prompt action and verification by consumers to avoid unexpected financial burdens.
