Pensioner's £4k water bill after meter reading delay

A pensioner has described his shock at receiving a water bill of more than £4,000 after his meter was checked for the first time in three years.

Philip Willis's property in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, suffered a leak in 2021 that was covered by insurance.

He believed the situation had been resolved but was left "feeling sick" when he was told how much he owed Thames Water.

Thames Water apologised and said it would rectify the issue and award Mr Willis a goodwill payment.

Mr Willis said when he first opened the bill for £4,096 he was filled with "anxiety and dread".

"It was horrendous, I had to sit down to recover," he told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"I've had many calls with [Thames Water] over the summer - somebody mentioned I should have done a leak allowance form but I wasn't informed of that at the time.

"When I try to ring them, they say they're going to do something about it - but they never do.

"I feel very disappointed with Thames Water, I have no faith in them and I think their service is shambolic."

A Thames Water spokesperson said the company was "carefully reviewing" the case and had confirmed "a suspected leak and delayed meter reading led to the high bill".

They added: "We aim to read meters at least once a year and are sorry that this hasn't been the case for Mr Willis.

"While we rectify the issue, we have paused billing on his account and once we apply the leak allowance we will adjust his bill.

"We will also be applying a goodwill payment to Mr Willis account for the inconvenience caused when resolving this matter."

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