Thames Water has blindsided me with a bill for nearly £2,000, backdated to 2020. It turns out that it mistakenly stopped collecting my direct debits back then and has not sent any bills since.
It admitted its error and promised to write off charges older than 12 months, but now it is trying to recover almost the full amount.
AD, London
You assumed that back-billing rules applied to water bills as they do to energy. They don’t, or at least not for domestic customers.
While businesses can’t be back-billed for more than 24 months, water firms can claw back up to six years’ worth of charges from householders if they forget to bill them.
The regulator, the Consumer Council for Water, says it expects firms to waive these if the mistake was of their making, and will look at complaints if this doesn’t happen.
Thames Water buckled when I intervened. It admitted that a system error ended your direct debits six years ago, and it has now agreed to waive all charges between April 2020 and March 2026. It apologised for “any inconvenience”.
Be sure to keep an eye on all bills from now on. GB is locked in a doom loop with Thames Water after he and his partner moved into a new flat with a smart meter. Thames Water put them on an unmetered tariff at the eye popping sum of £160 a month. The average for a two-person household is about £50.
GB asked for a metered tariff, but Thames Water was disinclined to believe that the meter existed and dispatched an engineer who duly confirmed it was extant and live. The result? Nothing.
“I call again,” says GB. “They insist on an appointment to have a meter fitted. I say we have a meter, but sure. An engineer comes and finds we already have a working meter, but we still can’t get a metered tariff. Thames Water then bombards me with messages telling me to get a meter fitted.”
The company can move fast with encouragement. Within two hours of my contact, it registered the errant meter to your account, switched you to a metered tariff and apologised.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
