Decision Report 201403974

Summary

Mr C owns a substantial garage, which he used for storage but that was formerly used for a business. It had no toilet or kitchen facilities but there was a stopcock at the entrance. He was charged for drainage of rainwater from the roof but not for water services. However, in 2014 Business Stream sent him a demand for payment for the provision of water there. Mr C said that after Business Stream visited to verify his information about the lack of facilities, he made enquiries about permanent disconnection of the water supply. A few days later, a contractor called and fitted a meter, although Mr C said he explained that what he wanted was disconnection. He told us that he was asked to pay a fee to proceed with disconnection, but Business Stream then sent him an invoice seeking a further, larger, payment for it. Mr C complained that Business Stream failed to give him prior notice before a water meter was fitted and that the proposed charge for disconnection was expensive for what was required.

We found from our investigation that Mr C had initially applied for a reassessment of charges, which is for the installation of a water meter if possible, before he applied for disconnection of the water supply. There was no record of him changing his mind about having a meter fitted before he applied for disconnection, and we did not uphold the complaint as we did not find evidence that Business Stream were required to give prior notice.