Commercial Leakage Allowance Claim
Discussion
Hoping that someone in the PH Massive has some experience of this????
We have been sent a form to fill in for a leak that we have had over a sustained period of time and by the looks of it this may be several thousand pounds worth.
I have already filled in a form but the water company have returned it saying they need more information
I don’t want to put something on there that ends up disallowing the claim as their commercial leakage policy has a number of get out clauses for them!
We have been sent a form to fill in for a leak that we have had over a sustained period of time and by the looks of it this may be several thousand pounds worth.
I have already filled in a form but the water company have returned it saying they need more information
I don’t want to put something on there that ends up disallowing the claim as their commercial leakage policy has a number of get out clauses for them!
You don't mention the circumstances of the leak. I hope I am interpreting the question.
I could question which side of the meter the leak is. If its your side of the meter is it not your 'fault' ? If its their side of the meter how have you been charged for the leak ? Or is it a leak at the meter - we had one on their side of the connection.
However, I had a case which we managed to take back six years. But ours is evaporation due to a cooling tower.We used to have an allowance many years ago - not scientifically based that I know. We hadn't spotted that they had dropped it.
We set up a new scheme where we use the water meter, combined with additional meters used to measure water into and out of the cooling tower. The difference is evaporation, recorded most days.
Having agreed that our usage had remained constant over the six years they agreed to take the actual current readings (percentages) backwards - giving us a credit of about £2,500. This of course relates just to trade effluent charges, as we used the water via evaporation.
I would use a similar technique for you. Assuming you now have no leaks, do daily / weekly records. Agree processes / usage - and the approximate changes that may have happened over time. You will have some other supporting business data - turnover, change in assets, change in customers.
All you then need to do is throw all the data back - showing that your usage is now lower compared to historic bills - indicating a leak. The difference can be extrapolated across the relevant historic bills. You then may have a time some years ago where the usage was lower - and may correspond to current usage, as adjusted for changes in the business.
Its just all about collecting supporting data to support your claim. If you can do it you can get back what the figures support, based to my experience. Consultants will do it for you, but its cheaper to do it yourself if you have time. Consultants will only take your time asking questions anyway.
I could question which side of the meter the leak is. If its your side of the meter is it not your 'fault' ? If its their side of the meter how have you been charged for the leak ? Or is it a leak at the meter - we had one on their side of the connection.
However, I had a case which we managed to take back six years. But ours is evaporation due to a cooling tower.We used to have an allowance many years ago - not scientifically based that I know. We hadn't spotted that they had dropped it.
We set up a new scheme where we use the water meter, combined with additional meters used to measure water into and out of the cooling tower. The difference is evaporation, recorded most days.
Having agreed that our usage had remained constant over the six years they agreed to take the actual current readings (percentages) backwards - giving us a credit of about £2,500. This of course relates just to trade effluent charges, as we used the water via evaporation.
I would use a similar technique for you. Assuming you now have no leaks, do daily / weekly records. Agree processes / usage - and the approximate changes that may have happened over time. You will have some other supporting business data - turnover, change in assets, change in customers.
All you then need to do is throw all the data back - showing that your usage is now lower compared to historic bills - indicating a leak. The difference can be extrapolated across the relevant historic bills. You then may have a time some years ago where the usage was lower - and may correspond to current usage, as adjusted for changes in the business.
Its just all about collecting supporting data to support your claim. If you can do it you can get back what the figures support, based to my experience. Consultants will do it for you, but its cheaper to do it yourself if you have time. Consultants will only take your time asking questions anyway.
skwdenyer said:
ClassicMercs: if I read you correctly, you're suggesting that the utility company will reimburse you for a leak on your side of the water meter? If so that's well worth knowing, and worth installing a few extra meters around the place to monitor the flow.
No - sorry - not fully. I do ramble on a bit sometimes.Your side - your problem - normally. But never say never. Ours was due to not discharge the same amount of effluent as we use water.
If the leaks bang on the meter, but on your side - you stand a chance. Especially as they read your meters so should see the leak.
Its amazing though what you can try and get money back for. Just depends how determined you are and how good an argument you put up.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff