Hanley mum's shock at £5,500 water bill
SINGLE mother-of-four Sabina Riaz fears her young family could be left destitute after receiving a water bill for nearly £5,500.
The 35-year-old, of Poundlock Avenue, Hanley, believes there is no way she could have racked up the charges as she usually only pays around £700 a year.
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SHOCK: Sabina Riaz says her annual bill should be around £700.
She has called in her supplier Severn Trent Water to investigate why her water use has apparently rocked.
And she says if the matter is not resolved she could struggle to make ends meet.
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The mental health nurse, who received the £5,408 bill yesterday morning, said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
"I usually spend around £700 a year on water so there is no way that we could have racked this much up.
"I phoned Severn Trent straight away. I can't afford to pay this bill and I don't believe we have spent this much on water."
Sabina is convinced there is a fault on her meter.
She claims a representative from Severn Trent came out to check the meter in February and was told it was faulty but she never heard anything back.
She said: "The workman told me it wasn't working because even when he turned the water supply off it was still ticking over.
"But after I received the bill I was told by a customer service adviser that the meters cannot overestimate the amount of water you use. So they think I must have a leak. But surely I would notice a leak of that size."
The bill covers Sabina's water supply from March last year to August.
It states she spent £1,476 in 33 days between February 28 and April 1.
She said: "I am a single mother who works long hours and am out of the house for long periods of time.
"I don't know how they expect me to meet these costs because they are absolutely ridiculous."
Sabina bought the new-build house in March last year and has never had problems with the water supply before.
She lives with her children Ania Hanif, aged 13, Zahra Hanif, aged 12, Kashif Hanif, aged 10 and Malaki Gordon, aged one.
She has already contacted her local MP Tristram Hunt, pictured below, for advice.
Sabina said: "I don't need this kind of debt to my name when I know it is not my fault."
A Severn Trent spokesman said: "Water meters are one of the fairest ways of paying for water as they ensure that you only pay for the water used.
"Severn Trent check water flows and water usage of customers and if there is an unexpected change we inform them, suggest tests they can do, carry out our own tests to see if the problem could be a leak on either our network or within the pipes.
"Where the problem is within the customer's property we advise them to have their pipe work looked at and deal with any internal leaks. This prevents higher than expected bills and paying for water they have not used."
Comments
by Redtone
Thursday, September 27 2012, 3:05PM
“STHolder - no, it's not swearing, it's just uncouth.
When I first saw this story I knew it wouldn't take long for some of the usual suspects to stray well off topic. Please try to remember that people from outside the area visit this site... wouldn't want them thinking a fair proportion of Stokies are bigoted idiots, would we?”
by RegenMan1
Thursday, September 27 2012, 2:33PM
“I had a problem with a water bill from the same company, same response from a clueless 'customer service' assistant insisting that bills based on meter readings cannot possibly be wrong - ever. Then, after a while, and with no apology or explanation, I received a revised bill - substantially less and in line with all my previous bills. Just what I tried to tell them in the first place but they did not want to know. Having been over-paying by direct debit in the meantime I had nothing more to pay for over 12 months.
Perhaps they just try it on and stick the extra money in a high interest account until they are forced to acknowledge that an error has been made and a refund issued - nice little earner if you think about it - several million customers paying, say, £10 extra each.
I disagree that this is not a news story - if Severn Trent were capable of admitting that a mistake had been made, and were capable of sending a revised bill to this lady, and had they done so, then yes it would be no news today. They haven't done so, are most unlikely to do so and, as a mere customer, this lady has no real means of redress other than the bad publicity this article may cause.
PS £700 seems a lot anyway unless this is a large family household.”
by johnwhite18
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 8:48AM
“It's a printing mistake not a news story”
by johnwhite18
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 8:48AM
“It's a printing mistake not a news story”
by warren-lloyd
Wednesday, September 26 2012, 5:21AM
“Spceey, why not go the whole hog, show just how uneducated you are and ask if anyone had been washing there elephant there. As for the remarks by one idiot about the tattoos, look around you, plenty and what its got to do with you I fail to see. It seem that this lady has a problem with her water meter and Seven Trent should be sorting it out and not sending demands from payment for such an outrageous amount that would plainly upset anyone. It seems like this woman works, and works dammed hard, if it was some unemployed 20 something mum in a council house, you'd all be trying to on the blame on Seven Trent and kicking at the council.”
by Martin_Orpe
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 10:52PM
“Ooooh sounds like some cant accept a muslim name to a white face tut tut”
by muzzer57
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 10:26PM
“Mr Hanif?”
by Speccy9eyes
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 7:36PM
“I wonder of she has a "co habitee" off the books of course, that uses water for business, you know, like car wahes for example?”
by nelsonl
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 5:44PM
“I am on a water meter.
I use the washer twice weekly, shower each day, water the garden, (not this summer mind) and my average 6 monthly bill is £100, never goes over £220 a year, before i was on a meter i was paying £480 a year.
So all you out there it is well worth enquiring, oh and if your stopcock is hard get at they put the meter at bottom of your drive, so they dont need to enter your home to read it :) .”
by WebMonkey1
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 5:03PM
“That's one hell of a leaky tap”