Current Events > Apparently, I haven't paid my water bill for 2 years.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've been paying a utility bill for sewer and stormwater, which I believed to be my water bill. The water company never sent a letter or left a notice on my door. Today, they sent a guy to shut off my water. Now they're saying they want 2 years of backpay. Do I have any legal recourse?

Um no also why was your water not immediately shut off

that is some wtf there

sewage is included in my water bill, i just assumed they were all like that. I'd ask to see invoices and compare them to your bank statements or something.

If you have documentation of your utilities bills, I'd gather them up and have a look at them to see if there is any mention of water bills. If there isn't, then you have a very good case against them, as that is something that should have been front and center.

If that turns out to be true, then speak to a lawyer about it. It's going to cost you a bunch of money to see what they say, but they can probably make the case that you shouldn't have to pay the backpay, amongst other legal jargon.

Unfortunately it's on you, the consumer to know of and pay for what you use. It is not their responsibility to alert you that you owe them money. There is no position in those types of companies who job it is to reach out and ask for money.

Still fucked up they never sent you anything at all in 2 years. After a few months they should have sent you a letter explaining they will shut it off if the bill of $xxx.xx isnt paid by xx/xx/xxxx.

Ivany2008 posted...

If you have documentation of your utilities bills, I'd gather them up and have a look at them to see if there is any mention of water bills. If there isn't, then you have a very good case against them, as that is something that should have been front and center.

This.

It is perfectly reasonable for you to assume that your water bill was being packaged with your sewer utilities bill if the city WASN'T sending you tons of bills and warnings.

Lokison posted...

Unfortunately it's on you, the consumer to know of and pay for what you use. It is not their responsibility to alert you that you owe them money. There is no position in those types of companies who job it is to reach out and ask for money.

Still fucked up they never sent you anything at all in 2 years. After a few months they should have sent you a letter explaining they will shut it off if the bill of $xxx.xx isnt paid by xx/xx/xxxx.

Legally speaking if they never sent him an invoice then he owes them nothing.
Companies are legally required to provide you with an invoice for services rendered. (Where I am. And if it's not where you are then what's to stop a company from just deciding "this guy owes me money" with zero evidence?)

I've heard of similar things happening for heating and AC. I think you're on the hook for it, but if it's a huge amount, you can likely get them to give you a deal, so you might get some "discount".

Curious what is the amount they are actually asking for here?

Dingydang166 posted...

Curious what is the amount they are actually asking for here?

They said they needed a technician to look at the meter to determine the bill.

Dingydang166 posted...

Curious what is the amount they are actually asking for here?

Assuming for a moment its 100/m for 2 years, that's 2400 dollars. Could be a lot more, could be a lot less.

Pepys Monster posted...

They said they needed a technician to look at the meter to determine the bill.

they should be checking your meter every month and if that's the case they should know how much you owe already.

https://i.imgur.com/rzZthhP.gif

meestermj posted...

Legally speaking if they never sent him an invoice then he owes them nothing.

i dont believe thats true. I worked for spectrum and people would always say "I never got my bill" when we'd shut em off.

Regardless if that was true or not they were using the services under a price that was set up when they started service. They'd still owe the money. Which i assume is true for utilities.

I think his only recourse would be if they told him his water was covered in what he was paying.

Pepys Monster posted...

They said they needed a technician to look at the meter to determine the bill.

That doesn't seem right to me

WaterLink posted...

they should be checking your meter every month and if that's the case they should know how much you owe already.

In some places they rarely actually measure, they basically just guess how much you used based on previous months. It's fucked.

Lokison posted...

Unfortunately it's on you, the consumer to know of and pay for what you use. It is not their responsibility to alert you that you owe them money. There is no position in those types of companies who job it is to reach out and ask for money.

Still fucked up they never sent you anything at all in 2 years. After a few months they should have sent you a letter explaining they will shut it off if the bill of $xxx.xx isnt paid by xx/xx/xxxx.

I don't think that's right.... Especially in the case of something like electricity when rates change.

I4NRulez posted...

i dont believe thats true. I worked for spectrum and people would always say "I never got my bill" when we'd shut em off.

Regardless if that was true or not they were using the services under a price that was set up when they started service. They'd still owe the money. Which i assume is true for utilities.

I think his only recourse would be if they told him his water was covered in what he was paying.

Saying I never got my bill when a bill is sent is different than them never sending a bill, then showing up and saying you owe us for two years

Powdered_Toast posted...

they basically just guess how much you used based on previous months

how is that even legal.

WaterLink posted...

how is that even legal.

You tell us, water link

Sounds rough... did they have a previous owner's info on file or something?
Maybe you can work out some kind of payment plan or something

Are you in America TC, because this sounds all kinds of illegal. Water companies are required to give a few weeks notice before shutting off, you would have gotten something on your door anlong with scary letters.

MICHALECOLE posted...

Saying I never got my bill when a bill is sent is different than them never sending a bill, then showing up and saying you owe us for two years

On top of that Spectrum isn't a utility so work under different laws.

MICHALECOLE posted...

You tell us, water link

I mean, for both my water and electricity bill I have level-billing enabled, but they only allow you to do that if you've had service for at least 12 month and you have to opt-in to it. They take a rolling average of your last 12 months and you pay that, so that way you can plan your budget better and won't have wild fluctuations month to month.

But they still check your meter every month to keep the rolling average accurate and still record your actual usage on your invoice. I've never heard of them not checking the meters every month, that sounds sketchy as all hell and I question the legality of it

voldothegr8 posted...

Are you in America TC, because this sounds all kinds of illegal.

I'm impressed a water company waited two years to shut it off, instead of the week after the due date.

This didnt happen.

In my head you're another person entirely...

Why did you have service then lmao

--Zero- posted...

This didnt happen.

It did, and it's weird as fuck.

meestermj posted...

Legally speaking if they never sent him an invoice then he owes them nothing.
Companies are legally required to provide you with an invoice for services rendered. (Where I am. And if it's not where you are then what's to stop a company from just deciding "this guy owes me money" with zero evidence?)

While it's true that if they didnt have access to a bill, they cant be legally held to the responsibility; if the bill was available to them via website, app or other means it's on the account holder to check that. A lot of people opt for the "green" way if billing: Digital Statements. They won't send you a bill, they'll provide a way for you to check on it yourself. This covers that alley.

Still should have gotten a notice about disconnect in the mail before this happened though. Pretty sure that part is legally required to be mailed.

In America, where water is not a human right.

Payzmaykr posted...

In America, where water is not a human right.

If water was all free then some people would waste it.