I Haven't Paid A Water Bill In 3 years - Advice Needed!

carling on 05/07/2018 - 12:25

I've lived in my unit for 3 years (owner occupier) and every 6 months I get a water bill.

Each time I open the water bill in big red letters it says "DO NOT PAY" and goes on to say that I am in credit (approx $110) each time. Is it up to me to follow this up with my water supplier? There have been a couple of occasions in the last year or 2 where they have disconnected the water during the day while they complete pipe works and I initially thought this may be some kind of compensation for inconvenience caused.

Should it be up to me to follow this up with my supplier? At the end of the year I don't want to get hit with a bill many years combined. But on the other hand their bills explicitly say that I am "not to pay the bill as i am in credit".

To this date I have followed the advice on the letters and have not made any payments to the water company.

Any advice is appreciated.

Home & Garden Bill

Comments

  • mreddie on 05/07/2018 - 12:32
    +1

    I would definitely follow it up, nothing in life is free.

    • Hybroid on 05/07/2018 - 13:53
      +7

      Not free but may already be paid via the strata fees. Where I'm living there's no water bills even though each floor has a water meter room with individual unit meters. But it's covered as a flat rate as part of the strata fees.

    • ihbh on 05/07/2018 - 13:55
      +3

      … except bad advice. :)

    • TransportPosters on 06/07/2018 - 09:16

      The best things are!

  • pantsparty on 05/07/2018 - 12:36
    +4

    No - do not follow up with the water company. Just keep some funds aside in case they one day decide to bill you $2k all at once.

    Isn't water normally paid by strata?

    • HighAndDry on 05/07/2018 - 13:14
      +4

      I'm pretty sure this isn't a case of OP not being charged, but that someone else has accidentally left direct debit on, or have crossed meters, and is paying for OP's water usage.

    • Cheap Charlie on 05/07/2018 - 13:17

      Isn't water normally paid by strata?

      For common areas yes.
      If the unit does not have its own water meter, then possibly

  • [Deactivated] on 05/07/2018 - 12:39
    +6

    there is likely a limit on how far they can back bill you if they have made a mistake (for telco it's 6 months), and if they do this, they can't demand you pay a massive bill straight away, they'll have to give you time to pay it off.

  • salmon123 on 05/07/2018 - 12:40
    +2

    At the end of the year I don't want to get hit with a bill many years combined

    I wouldn't worry about that … you can always negotiate a payment plan.

    Isn't water normally paid by strata?

    Usage is (unless there's separate meters), but lot owners still pay a supply and sewage charge.

  • dasher86 on 05/07/2018 - 12:43
    +3

    water companies can only back bill for 12 months in VIC.
    And you can request to pay the back bill amount over the period of back billing.

    https://www.ewov.com.au/issues/delayed-and-catch-up-bills

  • hogwarts on 05/07/2018 - 12:49
    +1

    It's telling you not to pay - pretty simple.

  • Glider on 05/07/2018 - 12:56
    +11

    If you choose to do nothing, make very sure you keep all of the notices telling you not to pay. You'll likely need them later.

  • stratbargain on 05/07/2018 - 13:08
    +2

    My water meter was broken when I bought/moved in to my place. I assumed they'd fix it or have a flag on there system to review if the meter doesn't move for a few reads.

    It took four years before they finally replaced it. No mention of it, no appointment. I just came home one day with a new meter fitted.

    The usage bills kicked back in but they never tried to recoup the missed amounts. But if they wanted to as pointed out earlier they would have only been good for the previous 12 months.

  • AdamFury on 05/07/2018 - 13:14
    +2

    If I was you I would continue doing what you are doing. Do not pay as per the letters advice. As far as I am concerned there is no onus on you.

  • HighAndDry on 05/07/2018 - 13:16
    +12

    Keep the letters saying "DO NOT PAY" in a safe. Keep around $1k aside in case.

    Other than that…. you don't need to do anything. Though it sounds like someone else is paying for your water accidentally so if you have morals, might want to update Sydney Water with your payment details and take the other poor bugger's off. No need to tell them you haven't been paying, just tell them - "I want to update my payment details."

    • Peace Maker on 05/07/2018 - 13:22
      +4

      OP's profile says he is in Melbourne. Why does everyone on here assume everyone is in Sydney? It's Ozbargain.

      • HighAndDry on 05/07/2018 - 13:24

        Look, I think "water utilities" I type Sydney Water. Pretty sure OP can make the leap to call his utilities instead of calling Sydney Water haha. Dammit, too late to edit.

    • flazh on 05/07/2018 - 14:55

      yeh, bank on the money in high interest savings and keep the bills in case someone important asks

  • bigticket on 05/07/2018 - 13:27

    Does the bill show the kL usage i.e. in terms of previous and current readings?

  • Austin 316 on 05/07/2018 - 13:29
    +1

    Nah, do not call them. I had a similar situation with my electricity bill where I didn't have to pay anything for 18 months.

    I called them up to clarify and they said thanks for calling us. It was a mistake in their system and according to VIC laws, they can only back bill me for the last 9 months. I paid that off on a payment plan over 9 months and started getting new bills since I called.

  • AlienC on 05/07/2018 - 13:47
    +3

    Quick start a water reselling business.. easy profit.. it is like bitcoin mining but better.. 100% follow this advice guaranteed.. 10 things your screwed up water bill supplier doesn't want you to know (or do, the 6th one is naughty)

  • abb on 05/07/2018 - 13:57

    I open the water bill in big red letters it says "DO NOT PAY" and goes on to say that I am in credit (approx $110) each time

    What else does it say?

    Any usage or connection charges, payments, etc.

  • Beanvee on 05/07/2018 - 14:09

    Is it possible someone's set up monthly credit payments to the account, either by accident or a previous tenant who's forgotten about it?

  • frankymatty on 05/07/2018 - 14:31
    +1

    Is there some sort of rebate on the invoice? Which happens to more than offset your usage - although unlikely.

  • chumlee on 05/07/2018 - 14:34
    +3

    Start your own bottled water business

  • garetz on 05/07/2018 - 15:23

    There are 2 portions to a water bill, the access and the usage, depending on your strata corp arrangement you may have 1 water supply, which means you dont pay for the usage, the strata corp does, but you are still responsible for the usage cost. If you are in credit, it could be someone paid a substantial amount towards the water before you owned it, in which case it will run out sooner or later. Contact the water board to get info on your account.

  • Topdog on 05/07/2018 - 16:25

    Don't follow up. You have the bills. If they ever try anything good luck to em. The approrite parties will side with you

  • engineeringprof on 05/07/2018 - 16:25

    Don’t do anything. Don’t contact anyone.
    Just keep the invoices and make sure you have some cash spare.
    We had this happen with electricity and got 6 months essentially free.
    As people have said above, they can back bill for up to 6 mo-12 no depending on state. But not any further

  • Some Human on 06/07/2018 - 01:43

    There were a few rebates in the last couple of years. Perhaps you used significantly less than the rebate amount and thats's why you've been in credit for so long.

  • furys12 on 06/07/2018 - 07:53

    This is likely irrelevant to you but in Tasmania the bill has to be paid by the owner and then through the real estate they get the tenant to pay for usage and I know from experience the real estate will make you pay for every cent even if over a years bills turn up at once.

    For you though, ignorance is not a legitimate defence if you want to keep not paying because it says not to without questioning why, then you better be prepared to fight anything that comes from it, you may be legally safe but you'll likely have to prove it

  • carling on 06/07/2018 - 13:20

    Really appreciating everyone's comments and feedback. Here is a link to a picture of my 'bill'. https://imgur.com/a/ZV0PMh6

    • mysterytal on 06/07/2018 - 13:22
      +1

      Seems quite clear. It says don't pay….so that's exactly what I would do.

  • ozbjunkie on 06/07/2018 - 18:01
    +1

    Better do what it says. If you pay they might cut you off or something for getting smart with them.

  • Micko179 on 07/07/2018 - 04:41

    I would kick in an extra $5 to get it over the $200 mark = higher interest!

  • HeWhoKnows on 07/07/2018 - 22:15

    May have been an error during the purchase where your water rates were significantly overpaid.
    If so it should show the amount by which you are in credit and this should reduce by the amount of the bill each time.
    In any case you are definitely liable for your water bill so best to give them a call and ask for an explanation.

    • Euphemistic on 09/07/2018 - 09:31

      This can occur. When we moved into our current house somehow the water bill had been paid twice by the previous owners so we had credit for 1 and a bit bills, but it certainly didn't last for 3 years and the credit tally dropped with each bill. There is a glitch in the matrix providing the OP with additional credit each bill.

      Don't pay, keep the bills, keep some cash on hand for when the supplier works it out and comes looking for money.

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