Decision Report 201205324

Summary

Mrs C complained that Business Stream had incorrectly calculated her bills after a leak was identified. She said that, despite being given an allowance (a 'burst allowance') to write off some of the excess water use caused by this leak, her business bill was still equivalent to five years water use.

Our investigation found that Business Stream had correctly calculated the bill. The leak had taken seven months to repair, but the maximum period that could be covered by the allowance was six months. Accordingly, Mrs C was liable for one month of excessive water usage, and this had increased her bill. Business Stream had acted reasonably and had challenged the burst allowance with Scottish Water (who are responsible for calculating these). However, we found that burst allowances are an entirely discretionary award, and Scottish Water, who were acting in line with their policies, had declined to change it. We did not uphold the complaint.