AnthonyDrake Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 We have had a water leak in our house due to a broken connection on the washing machine. The water company, Saur, have accepted the stopcock their side if the meter was faulty too and have replaced it (the Saur engineer found that the stopcock tap continued to turn albeit stiffly without stopping and didn't stop the water). Despite this the water company have refused to waive the extra water charges saying that due to the fault being on an appliance they are not legally obliged to reduce the bill. They also say that the stopcock is for the benefit of servicing the meter and we should ensure that we have separate means to stop the water flowing. Does anyone feel we have any way to address this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 My experience is that the water companies will allow you one leak which is what this really is. Usually they will accept 75% of the cost of the leak.Talk to the maire as well, he/ she may have a solution or some ‘piston’. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyDrake Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 Thanks for that, Saur are unwilling to reduce the bill in the two letters we have had from them. We will see if the Maire will intervene for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I had a eureka moment in the night; I seem to remember that they will reimburse a substantial part of the bill if it is a leak from a pipe but not from an appliance. Best of luck anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTr@sh Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 It's a bit strange you don't have a stopcock your side of the meter. I would get one put in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 There was a serious loss of water in one of my flats (the flush jammed open, so water continued running into the toilet bowl) for 3-months when I was in hospital in 2011, so of course I couldn't do anything about it. In fact I wasn't even aware of it, since the water had continued to run away but obviously caused no damage.I had an insurance against leaks, and when I got a bill for €3,000 I tried to claim on it, but I was informed but it didn't cover faulty equipment, only leaks that were the result of a burst pipe.However they kindly offered me an additional policy cover faulty taps:)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 I think they will allow you that one leak at a reduced charge for consumption, as long as the leak is not INSIDE your house.I had a leak that was outside, under ground, and they did reduce the bill for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinBretagne Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Did you believe that you had closed the faulty stop-cock to prevent the leak from your washing machine? If you thought that you had taken every precaution to prevent the water leak that’s one thing but if coincidentally there was a non leaking stop-cock fault at the same time as your machine was shedding water I can’t see how that would affect the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Department71 Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 When we used to leave to return to the UK we gave our neighbours our water and electric reading to give when they came to read the meter. On one of our visits a couple of years later our neighbour showed us the reading we gave to them, they were all the same for the water. It seems that a bit of grit or something had got into the meter and jammed it up. We were expecting problems when we reported it to the water company but all they did was replace the meter and said to forget the usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathar Tours Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 My dad used the TEMPO electricity system. Three times they changed the meter because it would not go round on a particular coloured day. Turned out it was a control system in the local area that triggered the changes. This went on for four years and basically he got free electricity on the most expensive tariff all through the winter. For some reason they thought they had caused him to use more electricity than he should have and sent him a cheque for around 2,500 Euros and an apology. Strange people in France not that he complained of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 We had a situation several years ago, the water softener burst while we were in spain for 3 months. When we came back the water had found its way into the house via cables and the house was nearly black. The insurance company paid for the the damages to the house but would not pay for the water usage, the bill came to 8,500€ +.However the water company Rese apparentlt had a rule that if the loss was a result of an accident the maximum payment would not be more than tree times the average consumption over the past three years.It came to about 1,100€ which we were happy to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 It’s a good reminder to turn water supply off before you go away for any length of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now