Non-motoring > Anglian Water - Well Done Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bromptonaut Replies: 9

 Anglian Water - Well Done - Bromptonaut
I was sure there was a previous Anglian Water thread here but when I located it it turned out to be hidden. Another bunfight presumably. Since I cannot append this story to that thread it'll have to stand alone......

Approximately a year ago Mrs B and I became aware of a hissing noise in the kitchen. Couldn't relate it to any appliance and turning off water or gas (unlikely latter as no smell) made no difference. Eventually, both of us with our ears at floor level, we traced it to the void below the sink unit installed in late 2018 as part of a kitchen renewal. At the time they'd relocated the main stop cock, messed up by the original builder so it came up the middle of the cupboard, and provided a second one on the back wall.

I could not get the 'kick board' off to examine further so requested help from the kitchen company. They got a guy out quickly (he lives in the village and MRs B had taught him. Initially he was sceptical but as soon as the kick board was off it was apparent that water was spraying from the point where the original stop cock met the supply.

Plumber round in under an hour and it was fixed. No damage - escaping water had gone into the void below the subfloor - and thought no more about it.

Then last week we got a water bill for £800!!. Metered supply and water flowing at rate of a tap half open; should have been obvious at time that there would be an effect.

On Friday I made an on line application to AW for a leakage allowance. Needed a meter reading (there's a whole other story about ants in the meter's space) which, together with their agent's reading in August gave us a consumption figure for around 5 weeks.

I'd come across leakage allowances before while working with AW customers and suspected I'd be either refused or at least hit with a request for 'Further and Better Particulars'.

On Saturday morning I had an email giving a leakage allowance of £450!!!. Cleared the deficit and put my account in credit. Monthly payment reduced to £15.

So full marks to AW.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - sherlock47
If I was a shareholder of AW I would be disappointed that a customer liability of £800 had just been written off. In what way was it the responsibility of AW?


But for you, well done in achieving a good result :)


This is a good example of why you should get the meter sited inside your premises if at all possible, - at least you can then be aware of any leaks fairly quickly. Also a lesson in why it is wise to do your own readings on a regular basis.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - Bromptonaut
>> If I was a shareholder of AW I would be disappointed that a customer liability
>> of £800 had just been written off. In what way was it the responsibility of
>> AW?

In no way whatsoever. Leakage allowances are offered by all the water companies so I suspect that, like Social Tariffs for those on low incomes, they're a regulatory requirement.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - Bromptonaut
>> If I was a shareholder of AW I would be disappointed that a customer liability
>> of £800 had just been written off. In what way was it the responsibility of
>> AW?

The amount 'written off' was £450, leaving me with a bill of £350 which is consistent with our normal annual usage. The effect was to leave my account in credit, but not by sufficient to stop me needing to pay to cover blance of 20/21 expected charges.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - No FM2R
Seems like excellent customer service to me, even if it is regulated.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - sherlock47
Sorry I should read the original posting properly before commenting!

However does the provision for a leakage allowance not require the end user to take some responsibility to mitigate losses by taking prompt action? By your own admission you were aware of a potential problem for a year.
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Mon 14 Sep 20 at 14:24
 Anglian Water - Well Done - Bromptonaut
>> However does the provision for a leakage allowance not require the end user to take
>> some responsibility to mitigate losses by taking prompt action? By your own admission you were
>> aware of a potential problem for a year.

As soon as we'd worked out where the problem was we were in touch with the kitchen installation company and the fault was repaired same day - approx 25/10/19. Arguable that it was their subcontractor's fault but AW didn't question us on that.

What I forgot about was reporting it to Anglian Water and initiating the leakage allowance process at the time.

Given I'd spent three and a half years working on a project engaging with low income AW customers, including dealing with high usage issues and advising them to claim for leakage, that was a significant oversight!!
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 14 Sep 20 at 15:02
 Anglian Water - Well Done - Manatee
>>If I was a shareholder of AW I would be disappointed that a customer liability of £800 had just been written off.

Are you a shareholder in Scottish Power?

Last year I 'transferred' my dual fuel account to the house we are renting, following the house fire.

The house was roofless, and a sealing disc had been put in the meter. After a certain amount of faffing about, toing and froing, Scottish Power closed my electric and gas accounts and sent me finals bills, that I paid last July .

I recently had to contact them to get the meter removed (it's required). They messed me about for a week with bad information, eventually they managed to pass me to National Grid Metering who have now removed it.

Somewhere in this process they
- reopened my gas account
- estimated my usage for about 14 months since the fire at around £1,000 and sent me a bill, which they would have direct debited is they hadn't cancelled their DD arrangement - they set their dogs on me to reinstate the DD which of course I wouldn't. They then reduced the bill to £197 for 14 months of standing charges. I told them I didn't think this was reasonable as I had not and could not have obtained any gas from the meter, and they had previously closed the account and sent me a final bill without any intimation of further charges.

I was advised to complain! In due course I was telephoned by the executive complaints unit. I imagine this to be an enormous department because SP struggle with the simplest things.

The chap was very nice and agreed to rescind the standing charge. He was unable to explain why this left a balance to pay of £27, so he gave me a goodwill credit to cancel it out. While I had his ear, I asked if he could sort the electricity meter as I now foresaw a similar cock up with that. To my astonishment, he said it wasn't really his department (that bit didn't astonish me) but he would delete it from the database. "What do you mean? Expunge it completely? Gone forever? It won't regenerate?"

"Correct".

Now that's a man with power!

I'm only slightly concerned that I will never be able to get any electricity again.

 Anglian Water - Well Done - R.P.
We had a similar "adjustment" when we had a leak a couple of years ago - superb service from Welsh Water. They detected the leak (not leek !) on our property, fixed it FOC and then adjusted the bill later on.
 Anglian Water - Well Done - zippy
We were in the current money pit for a couple of months when Southern Water turn up. Miss Z was on leave and answered the door as we were out.

You have a leak they said. On your property. We own a wood between the road and the house. Nothing is allowed to be done with the wood.

It needs to be fixed right away.

Panicked daughter called us. Turns up the two men were not from Southern Water so I was worried about it being a scam.

The pipes are shared by the neighbour and they quoted a few thousand to him for the repair!

They insisted that the leak be fixed right away as it was losing hundreds of gallons and impacting pressure. Got back and our pavement was up and the workmen were finding the pipes. There was a veritable river running down the road.

Called Southern Water on an emergency number who confirmed the men were subcontractors and due to the volume of water lost they were allowed to take emergency action.

The bill which would have been several thousand £ was borne by them!!!

Luckily our meter was upstream of the leak!

We now have insurance to specifically cover this.





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