My tenants had a water meter installed, I want unmetered water back.

[Charlie]

We recently rented our house out for a year and the tenants did not get our permission to have a water meter installed.

Three Valley are refusing to give us unmetered water now.

On their website it clearly states:

> What if I am renting my premises? >> You must obtain the permission of your landlord before applying for a me=

ter installation.

so I though I had a fairly strong case.

Has anybody got any ideas or lines of enquiry I could persue to try and get unmetered water back.

Reason for wanting unmetered water: Three Valleys currently charge about =A3130 per year for unmetered water to a property like ours. At the moment metered water is costing us approx =A320 per month.

Thanks in advance

Charlie

[Frank Erskine]

installation.

Ask the water company for a copy of the permission granted "by the landlord" before the meter was installed. If such was not given, then they have installed the meter unlawfully and you, as the landlord, can charge them a wayleave for as long as it's there.

[hzatph]

Three Valley are refusing to give us unmetered water now.

On their website it clearly states:

so I though I had a fairly strong case.

Has anybody got any ideas or lines of enquiry I could persue to try and get unmetered water back.

Reason for wanting unmetered water: Three Valleys currently charge about £130 per year for unmetered water to a property like ours. At the moment metered water is costing us approx £20 per month.

Thanks in advance

Charlie

You may have a claim against your tenants - try uk.legal but the advice is not a consistently good as it is on here

[Charlie]

Maybe I'll try Frank's approach first before claiming against my tenants. It sounds a bit messy.

Charlie

hzatph wrote:

[PhilC]

Try uk.legal.moderated less prats and trolls

PhilC

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

I'm just wondering why they got a meter in? when the monthly payment would have been at 13GBP if as you say it was 130GBP before?

Wish I was paying 20GBP instead of 25.65GBP

[Rob Horton]

installation.

Reduce your bill by using less water. You could end up being charged less than when you were unmetered.

[Charlie]

It was a corporate let so I guess they didn't care because they weren't paying.

I also thinkg 3 Valleys are making all new customers take a meter, although I'm not 100% on this.

Charlie

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

[Kev]

I thought that it been more or less proved that having a water meter doesn't reduce water consumption. If you need to use water you use it. I know that my kids frequently don't flush the toilet but thay are lazy toe rags, they don't do it to save water. I then use twice as much water cleaning the piss stain out of the wc. That dirty bastard Ken Livingstone doesn't flush his toilet after taking a piss. God his house must stink.

Kevin

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

You should read the site information.

Under all circumstances, you have the right to revert back to non-metered charges provided that you do so by giving written notice within 18 months of the meter installation.

[Charlie]

I did see this but to be fair I wasn't sure if it applied since I wasn't the one who got the meter put in.

E.g. say you buy a house from someone who has recently had a meter put in. Can you then revert back to non-metered charges because it's within 18 months?

I just figured this clause would only apply to a single customer.

Charlie

The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Go to the local CAB,they'll have this scenario going through their books daily and will advise what to do.

[Christian McArdle]

I was under the impression (although it may well be erroneous) that if the householder changes, they can insist on a water meter anyway. i.e. as you are the new "tenant", they can install one even if there wasn't one already. I am probably misremembering, though.

Christian.

[John Phillips]

installation.

Tenants do seem to have some rights in this area:

sure how that page squares with the Three Valleys page, though.

[Lobster]

Still a bit odd then - why go to the trouble of changing anyway then? (Maybe they were subjected to hard sell by the water co?)

David PS PLEASE don't top post in this ng - the locals don't appreciate it!

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

> Not sure how that page squares with the Three Valleys page, though. So there you have it Charlie they did have the right to have the meter installed, even if you pointed out no meter to be installed.

[Lobster]

Also - consider - did your tenancy agreement have a clause expressly forbidding the tenants from changing to a metered supply? If so, then forget it... Even if you do have such a clause, you shold investigate whether it would be considered an "Unfair Term in Consumer Contracts" (see

[or ) and therefore unenforceable. For example, a landlord is not allowed to stipulate that a tenant may not change the supplier of his electricity or gas... to my mind, moving to metered water sounds a similar sort of issue.

David

[Christian McArdle]

way I read that, the water company can definitely insist on metering and there is no case against the previous tenants either.

Christian.

[Charlie]

OK, I rang Three Valleys Water again and they say that the meter was "Compulsory Fit" when the tenants moved in.

And that under the Water Industry Act 1991 Section 114b, Subsection 2b they are entitled to do this.

I checked this act at:

couldn't see anything under section 114 that seemed relevant.

I'm not feeling very confident about this anymore :-(

Charlie

Christian McArdle wrote:

[Ed Sirett]

installation.

How many of you are there? If there is less than four of you then there is a almost certinaly some scope for water savings.

I think the best that you could hope for is to persue the tenants in the small claims court for the likely difference multiplied by a few years.

I'm with Three Valleys and 5 people use £20/month.