HOMEOWNERS who opt to have a water meter fitted to save money have been warned that they may end up bearing the cost of Britain’s old and leaking pipes.

One Sunday Times reader recently saw her bill go up from the usual £270 every six months to £5,000 despite having a Thames Water meter that was supposed to save her money. Another claims he has overpaid because of leaking pipes for nine years and is owed more than £1,000 by Bristol Water.

The news comes amid growing concerns that water companies are duping customers to boost profits.

Last week, Severn Trent Water was fined a record £35.8m for providing false data and poor customer service. The firm, which has about 8m customers, admitted misreporting its water-leakage levels in 2001 and 2002.

Most consumers do not realise the supply pipe between a water meter and their property is usually the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain. They may not know they have problems until a water meter is fitted and their bill shoots up.

More than 7m homes in England and Wales have been fitted with meters with plans to phase in compulsory metering by 2030 in drought-prone areas.

Poor supply pipes cause about 25.5% of all water leakage. That’s more than 872m litres of water a day, according to the water regulator Ofwat.

“Overpaying because of a leak could potentially be an issue for every household with a water meter,” said Andrew White of the Consumer Council for Water. “Anyone thinking of having a meter or who already has a meter should check for leaks as soon as possible.”

Penny Williamson, 50, an events organiser from southwest London, received a bill of £5,000 from Thames Water for the six months up to last November. Her usual six-monthly bill is about £270.

She had a meter installed at her property in 1999 even though she did not request one. “We noticed the pressure in our water dropped dramatically in May last year. We notified Thames Water, but they refused to help saying their responsibility was only to send water to the house.

“We then had some builders in who discovered huge amounts of water under the ground. It was like an underground swimming pool down there.”

Williamson said she was forced to pay for the repairs which cost her £2,000, in addition to the bigger bill. “If they’d acted on the problem when we told them, we wouldn’t have ended up in this position.”

Thames Water said: “We closely monitor customer accounts for unusually high water consumption which, if found, is investigated with the customer to discover the cause.

“In this case the monitoring system did not work and is not the standard of service our customers should expect. We apologise for any inconvenience and stress this may have caused Mrs Williamson and her family. We will be reimbursing her account.”

Another reader, Richard Stancomb, 71, from Sherston, Wiltshire, said he has been overpaying for almost a decade.

The pensioner, who lives on his own, thought he would save money with a meter, so applied to have one installed in 1998. Though his bills initially reduced, he still thought they were high and took measures to cut costs further.

Despite his efforts, however, his consumption levels remained high.

He later discovered a damp patch on his lawn caused by a leak. His water supplier, Bristol Water, repaired the pipes after which his bills were cut in half.

Stancomb said he has been overcharged since he moved in nine years ago and calculates he is owed £500 for seeping water as well as £719 for sewage charges – a total of £1,219.

Bristol Water has paid Mr Stancomb a leakage allowance which covers the cost of leaks going back 18 months, although it said this is more than it usually offers.

“We tend to cover only 12 months, and are not obliged to pay anything. The reason we do pay, however, is to tackle leaks and wasted water,” said a spokesman.

Stancomb has taken the matter up with the county court. Bristol Water said it would defend its position “vigorously”.

You can get a meter fitted for free and have it removed within 12 months if you find you are paying more than before.

People without a meter are charged on the old rateable value, which on average, costs £325 a year, although this varies depending on where you live and the value of your house. Those on a meter pay an average of £285, although again this varies.

Ofwat said: “It is the consumer’s responsibility to maintain the pipes that lead into their property. There is currently no law to force companies to pay for repairs to these pipes although most will offer to do so as a gesture of goodwill.”

MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN?

-You can opt to have a meter fitted free and opt out within 12 months.
-Smaller households benefit more from meters.
-The pipes on your property are your responsibility.
-Water firms offer a ‘leakage allowance’ to cover some of the cost of repairs, but you have to prove you acted promptly when the leak was found.
-You can check if you would be better off with a meter on the Consumer Council for Water’s website, www.ccwater.org.uk