what to do if Thames Water can't find my meter?

Posted by archaeborxteryx@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 11 comments

hello, I moved into a flat I'm January and since have had an ongoing thing with thames water in which they insist I have a water meter that no one can locate.

an engineer came over to check it and half heartedly suggest it could be inside an area that is boxed off (pipe) which seems extremely unlikely to me. now Thames water are saying I need to remove that part of the wall in order for them to come back and check the meter, which obviously I can't do in a rented property

legitimately what do I do here? my water bills are estimated readings and they are doing nothing to help me. I genuinely don't believe I have a water meter in the flat but they insist I do

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Gorf1@reddit

I presume you can't hear it? Ours makes a ticking sound when water is running.

I came back from work one night about siz months ago. My wife had left the hose running in the garden. She was in the kitchen, all the cleaning stuff from under the sink was strewn over the kitchen floor, and my wife was searching inside the cupboard.

"I think there's a bomb under here!"
"Don't be daft."
"Can't you hear that ticking?"
"Yes, it's the water meter, it always does that when we're using water."
"But we're not using any water."
"Yes you are, the hose is on."
"Oh SHI..." out she runs.

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APiousCultist@reddit

Surely this is your landlord's problem? You should be asking then where the meter is, and if they don't know then the wall removal and repair would be entirely their responsibility.

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jasminenice@reddit

Where's your stopcock? I'd hazard a guess the meter is located there. I live in a flat where the stopcock is behind a wall panel outside of the flat in the communal corridor area. You can access it by unscrewing the wall panel so not ideal but not wholly inaccessible either. It's not metered but if they installed a meter that's most likely where it would be placed which is why I'm wondering if you have a similar set-up?

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Glad-Feature-2117@reddit

Happened to me. Nobody (including the landlord) knew where it was. After I co-operated in helping the water company to find it, they put me on their flat rate tariff at a hefty discount (I was living there less than half the time).

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Sweet_Focus6377@reddit

Gives them the landlord/agency details

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Anubis1958@reddit

Push back on TW.

They told me that I had a water meter and that I was now using a lot of water, much more than 2 people would normally use. I told them to prove their readings and opened a formal dispute. They attended on site and could not find the water meter. The housing had been fitted. The pipe work was there, but it was a dummy meter. After being told that because they could not authenticate their readings, I told them that they would have to use my (farcically low) estimated readings. They eventually accepted this and I was credited with 6 months free water.

They did ask me where the meter was, because it was installed somewhere and sending reading. As if I knew or cared.

They then installed the missing meter.

My neighbours have the same problem, so I suspect that their installtion contractor has been ripping them off.

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