Woman tormented by leak which has doubled water bills
SEVERN TRENT SAYS IT CANNOT FIX PROBLEM ON PRIVATE LAND
A DERBYSHIRE woman has told of her stress and frustration after being subjected to a mystery issue with the pipe that feeds her house which she says has caused her water bill to more than double in recent months.
Linda Demott, 74, first discovered the problem when she and her partner Richard, 74, returned home after a holiday. The first sign that something was amiss was a spike in her water meter reading.
After carrying out a flow test, she suspects that this is due to a leak in underground pipe near to her house.
Having paid £268.17 for the 176 days between November 29 2021 and May 14 2022, Linda has seen her monthly direct debit that pays her water bill increase from £24 to £62.48.
Linda, from Kilburn near Belper, said: “It started when we were away in Mexico in May. The water bill when we came back was for more than it should be because the water is leaking at two litres a minute. “Severn Trent has come out at various times, but the pipe is outside my house and not on the pavement so it’s deemed as my responsibility. They put a note through my neighbour’s door saying it had been fixed, but clearly it hadn’t been.
“I’ve had promises, and I’ve been given a case worker from the high priority complaints team on July 27. I refused their offer of a £50 good will payment because there is no good will.”
Linda, a retired secretarial work lecturer at Derby College, said: “I’m 74 and my partner is the same age as well. The amount of stress it is causing is unbelievable. The frustration of not getting anything done, I don’t need at my time of life.
“They know there was a leak from December but the first I hear about it is in May. It’s ridiculous.”
Now Linda also fears that her neighbour’s garden may have to be dug up as engineers seek to locate and patch up the leak. But Severn Trent says that its policy is only to address issues with water supply on public land and not on private property.
A spokesperson said: “Our engineers have visited a property in Kilburn. We have identified that the leak is on private property and that therefore any repair is the responsibility of the consumer. We understand that this can be a stressful situation and while we’re unable to fix leaks on private land, we provide customers with support in the form of detailed information and guidance to help them get the repairs made as quickly and easily as possible.
“Once the leak has been fixed, the customer can also contact us to apply for a leakage allowance, which can cover the cost of water lost during the leak, so people aren’t paying for anything they haven’t used.”
They know there was a leak from December but the first I hear about it is in May.
Linda Dermott