A mum-of-two recently hit with a water bill for nearly £16k after a leak went undiscovered for months has had the debt wiped. Claire Fitzpatrick, from Sycamore Close in Bridgend, first realised something was wrong last summer when the amount she owed to Welsh Water "suddenly and unexplainably shot up" into four figures.
And, upon checking her meter - located on the pavement outside her house - she saw the numbers on the dials were "spinning at 100 miles an hour." Several attempts were then made by water board engineers to locate the source of the leak by digging up Claire's driveway, but each time proved unsuccessful.
In the end, with the tally continuing to rise, Claire was faced with somehow paying back a staggering £15,833.11 after Welsh Water explained the problem was her responsibility, not theirs. The company asserted that the issue wasn't to do with their pipework "but instead on the internal pipework of her property."
It added that its engineers' efforts to find the source of the problem thus far had been "a gesture of goodwill". The 47-year-old cosmetic products developer was also informed that, should the leak remain unlocated, she would have to pay a private contractor to try unearthing it. You can read the full details here.
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However, less than week after WalesOnline broke the story, Claire has now been informed that she no longer has to pay back the eye-watering amount owed. "It's such a relief, because I had absolutely no idea where I was going to get that sort if money from," she said, adding that Welsh Water had now admitted ownership of the affected supply pipe.
"And yesterday they finally replaced it with a brand new one. To be fair, I could not fault the workers and contractors who turned up, who were all very professional.
"Best of all though is that fact that my final bill - which was actually £17,296.26 - has now been cleared. What is more, that's actually left my account £44.30 in credit."
An email sent to Claire by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water's Managing Director of Water Services Ian Christie admitted that it had "fallen short of the high standards" it aimed to provide customers. He explained that a "leakage allowance" had been applied to Claire's account, meaning she'd only be charged for her normal usage during the period concerned.
Mr Christie also assured that "lessons will be taken from (Claire's) case to ensure we improve on future customer experiences." A spokesperson for the company added that the leak had been repaired and Claire's bill 'adjusted accordingly'.
They added, "We have contacted the customer directly to apologise for the bill received. Also for the fact that it took longer to resolve the leak than we would have liked.
"We always aim to investigate and repair leaks as quickly as possible. However, some can prove more challenging than others."
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