By October you could have probably excavated the entire length of the pipe run with a trench spade.
Found the leak , taught yourself plumbing, fitted a transition coupler and run a length of mdpe from the house back to the road .
Update: so I got the first available appointment to fix the pipe which was yesterday. They arrived, faffed, and after 2 hours found the leak right beside the meter, under the pavement, and as far as I'm concerned, not on my property.
They patched it and went away. Looking just now as I took a reading, I think I might have a new meter, not entirely sure though.
I'm now looking at the Thames water leak allowance form to claim back the cash. It says only eligible if the leak was fixed inside 4 weeks. I hope since I acted very quickly at every stage and the delay was them, plus the leak actually being outside my property not on it, means they will pay me back, as I've gone over the bills and the excess now amounts to £2000. Looking at my bills very carefully, it started leaking 13-14 months ago and my bill last December was up slightly but not loads, then I had the big bill back in July, and the leak has increased since then.
Fingers crossed I get the cash returned.
Interesting. I wonder how they define the property boundary.... is it the actual boundary or 'your' side of the meter? I would expect the meter to be theirs anyway so if the issue was with that then it's their problem.
If the leak is on the pavement, then it is not in your boundary.
The leak was in the pipe, my supply pipe, but not yet in my property. If I need to argue (if they say its been too long to fix to get the leakallowance) I'll very much be arguing 'not my pipe to fix!' I'm hoping, since I've done all the chasing and taken the first appointment each time, that I'll get the money back. Especially since I asked initially about getting the cashback and was told I would but not given the form as it couldn't be completed until fixed. It's not until you read that form that it says the leak must be fixed in 4 weeks.... so I feel like I've been misdirected too.
Anyway... i'll take a reading in 2 weeks to confirm useage has returned to normal and submit the form.... braced for a refusal first off and prepared to go through complaints if needed.
I wonder how they define the property boundary…. is it the actual boundary or ‘your’ side of the meter?
This. It does seem to depend on where you look. Certainty Severn Trent regard anything on the customer side of the connection to the main to be the customer’s responsibility, as we found out- our leak was 3 m outside our boundary under Malvern Hills Trust land but we were told anything between the stopcock next to the road and our house was not their responsibility- in our case that’s about 35m of supply pipe outside our boundary.
If its outside your property boundary, it's their problem regardless of the pipe
Since today I also received my 6 monthly bill and I'm not keen to pay more than is due, I've call them.
1. They are cancelling the DD for now. And will wait for the leak allowance form to arrive. Yay
2. The delay of over 4 weeks (they came and confirmed my leak 11 October) IS NOT A PROBLEM. I was told I can explain what has happened in the covering email when returning the leak all5 form. It seems reassuring that I will get the money back....blooming hope so!
djc1245Free Member
If its outside your property boundary, it’s their problem regardless of the pipe
Unfortunately not the case. From Severn Trent site
Please be aware that the water main or communication pipe that supplies your property may be in a different highway from the one immediately outside your property. The responsibility of the company ends at the boundary of the highway in which the relevant main or communication pipe is laid.
From the boundary of the highway, the water is then supplied to the property through a supply pipe. This means the property owner (or group of property owners where numerous properties are served by the supply pipe) is responsible for their supply pipe, even if it crosses other privately or publicly-owned land before entering their home.
Some properties may also have a secondary stop tap in addition to the controlling stop tap closest to the main – liability for the supply pipe does not change with the presence of a secondary stop tap on the private supply pipe.
Edited for clarity
4 weeks since the repair I've now taken another meter reading and submitted my leakage allowance form. Going back over bills since 2020 and averaging use, I've been billed for 450m3 (£2301) of leak since this started. I hope Thames agree with me and I get it back swiftly. For the moment I'm not paying any more bills.
The saga continues. If I were to say Thames water don't know their @453 from their elbow you may get an inkling of how I feel currently. So leak fixed, I even got a letter saying, 'we can tell you've fixed your leak/ your water usage has returned to normal', I've completed the 'I've fixed a leak form' and the water leak allowance form. So why am I still getting letters saying, 'we notice you have a leak'? Well after the latest which is a bit threatening, I've made yet another call. It seems Leaks, smart metering, and billing are separate bits of Thames....and don't talk to each other. They also don't talk to morissons their contractor that actually fixed the leak. Grr.
Well after voicing my displeasure at receiving yet another letter, and a threatening one at that, 'Michelle-we-don't-give-out-surnames-but- she's- the-only-michelle' has promised to talk to the other bits of Thames water and confirm to me by end of the week, that it's all sorted.
And we are going to have to pay huge bills to pay for the profits. Utterly rubbish.
Update
Thames, finally confirmed they know the water leak is fixed and they won't be turning up with a court order for access to fix it after all. Good, well done Michelle.
They also have accepted the leak allowance form but their calculations show the leak starting mid july last year, not as I think about October 23, so they have calculated a figure that is about £1200 down on what I think.... i'll be on the phone shortly!
Heavens. Customer services can't help, apparently I need billing enquiries..... I was told to email them again. Well I have, but they didn't read the last email I sent so....
If anyone has a phone number for billing enquiries, not customer (partial) services, please let me know it ?
And finally (I hope!) I've got confirmation that they agree, and have redone the leak calculation going back to May 2023. I'm getting almost £2.2k credited to my account which will put me about £1.2k in credit. Once I have ente bill I'll call again.....and ask about getting that money in to my bank account!
