Hi
We recently had a visit from Saur to read our meter.
Judging by the reading, they detected a leak in the property which we identified behind some boxed in plumbing- the water was mostly leaking into the ground.
Im dreading the water bill coming in- our consumption is x4 what we normally use.
1)Will I have pay for the water lost through the leak? Its not like it was obvious, and we repaired it promptly.
2)I asked insurers (AXA) if we were covered for the cost of the water which leaked. Apparently not.
3)If we had made a claim for the damage to the property and subsequent repair, would we then be able to include the cost of the escaped water?
Iâm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience?
All help appreciated
Francis
I had an outside tap dripping for nearly half a year - âŹ500 it cost me on a bill of usually around âŹ160 for same period. I did not even try to claim anything, a dripping tap is my fault and to be honest it was hidden behind a piece of wood at the back of the main house where I rarely went except to use said tap ocassionally. Decided not to bother repairing tap so we cut it off and sealed the pipe. I had another two outside taps to use and all of them were where you put the brass key in the top to turn so thieves could not steal the water which often happens in rural areas.
I seem to recall from years ago⊠loss of water is down to the Proprietor (which your Insurers have already told you) ,
but damage caused to the property by said water was covered by Insurers.
also, I seem to recall that it was important point that the Insurers were notified asap and that all was done by the Proprietor to minimise further damageâŠ
We got one of those letters from our local water distributor, saying that we must have a leak on our property, as our water consumption had almost doubled over previous years.
I had a number of potential culprits:
- a leaky outdoor tap, which seeped ;
- a toilet flush which sometimes doesnât reseat properly thus constantly filling the cistern and overflowing into the toilet bowl;
- 9 hours virtually solid use of a high pressure hose to clean the patio surrounding the house of moss and accrued dirt over a period of at least 7 years (done during winter, before the water usage limits came into effect).
Turns out it was the latter that had upped the water consumption, my bad.
@Fenman , we recently received a letter from Veolia enquiring if we had a leak, as our usage had more than doubled over the course of a year. In our case, it was simply due to permanently moving into what had been our maison secondaire.
However the letter did set out the special mechanism/conditions legally required for capping your bill if there has been a leak between the water meter and your house. Iâve attached a hopefully useful link that explains the conditions.
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Dear George1
Thank you for this- hopefully things wonât be as bad as I thought.
Regards
F
You might be able to get a âremiseâ⊠We discovered the pressure valve had broken and was leaking badly, quickly got a plumber to fix it and he provided an attestation. You have a month after discovering the leak to get the attestation to Saur.
La loi vous protĂšge en cas de fuite cachĂ©e. Si votre consommation dâeau excĂšde le double de votre consommation habituelle, vous avez peut-ĂȘtre droit Ă une remise.
Les conditions dâapplication :
La fuite doit concerner une habitation (les locaux professionnels sont exclus).
Elle ne doit pas ĂȘtre situĂ©e sur des appareils mĂ©nagers, des Ă©quipements sanitaires ou de chauffage.
DĂšs que vous identifiez la fuite ou que vous ĂȘtes prĂ©venus par nos services, vous disposez dâun mois pour nous transmettre une attestation dâune entreprise de plomberie.
ConformĂ©ment Ă lâarticle L 2224-12-4 du code gĂ©nĂ©ral des collectivitĂ©s territoriales, nos services appliqueront alors une remise. Les m3 supĂ©rieurs au double de votre consommation moyenne ne vous seront pas facturĂ©s pour lâeau potable.
Pour la part assainissement, la consommation facturée sera équivalente à votre consommation moyenne.
Pour vĂ©rifier si votre commune dispose de conditions particuliĂšres, consultez le rĂšglement du service disponible dans la rubrique âeau dans ma communeâ.