Help! Body Corp asking me to pay $5K water bill

(On behalf of my sister) Can anyone give me some advice to go forward please? I’m currently living in my QLD unit with my 3yo but when it was tenanted, Body Corp found there was a leakage in our unit block due to a very high water bill (normally split evenly between units). A plumber organised by Body Corp found the leak was in my unit and said the tapware needed to be replaced immediately and advised the tenant to report because the tap was gushing (no idea why my tenant didn’t report this earlier if it was in such bad shape). I know that this was reported on 17/12 and asked the agent to send someone to fix but then on 21/12, I know the tenant made another report to my agent so it wasn’t fixed for at least 4 days. I’m still waiting to hear the exact date it was fixed. Body Corp says that the tap was likely to have been gushing for several weeks and have forwarded the water bill to me just recently. In total, they’re requesting me to pay back $4900 to the other unit owners for the water bill and the plumbers bill. This is also such a lot of money for me, a single mum. If anyone has any advice moving forward, I’d really appreciate it. My LL insurance had run out and I had forgotten to renew it so sadly I’m not covered there. Thank you so much for any advice you can give.

 

Am assuming there is no seperate mettering for each unit ?
Failure or not, the water was technically used, your tenant may have had 12 hour showers every day and the leak may have been "minor", so the BC can ask, but not demand payment for the additional water use !

The BC should apply to the local water authority for an exemption of the water usagae component due to leak/failure (some do this when thos occurs).

As far as the plumbing invoice goes, was it their plumber or yours that actually did the work ?

You are probably liable for the tapware and repair cost, what was this charge in total .

They could have just isolated the water supply to your unit and said "your problem" to fix, leaving you with a tenant demanding compensation

 

So the BC can’t demand me to pay? I’m confused about this. It feels as if I have no choice.
It was the BC plumber who identified the leak. The BC are giving me invoices for two plumbers- one who detected the leak and one who checked water pressures. There was no fixing of tapware or repair work done in my unit (which I would’ve been happy to pay for). Thanks for your reply!

 

Has the BC demonstrated how they arrived at that figure? $4900 is a nice round arbitrary number that sounds like it's been plucked out of thin air with no justification to substantiate the claim...

Are their individual meters for each Lot in the scheme as well as a head meter for the BC?

In cases of a water leak, normally the water provide (eg. QUU, Unity, etc) can waive their profit portion of the bill I think it is, leaving only the State Gov's bulk water charge, which is at least something.

 

With civil matters there is no punishment, the pointy end of the stick is at QCAT where an adjudicator (whether BCCM or QCAT) will look at the evidence provided from both sides and make a ruling. If the other side actually has little to no good evidence this can work in your favour as the Tribunals aren't stupid and they generally get to the bottom of matters and work out what is deemed to be reasonable given the different laws and situations at play. If you're unsure and don't have money for experts to investigate your side of it, perhaps sitting back and just let them go through their process and motions to eventually end up at the Tribunal may be your best option.

 

Yes, I can see they’ve rounded up a few dollars. It is one meter for the block and the bill is divided equally between the 12 units.
Thank you, this is helpful!

 

@LP1 $4,900 is a fair volume of water. How your bill is calculated - Queensland Urban Utilities

• Tier 1: 1st 300 kL x $0.793 = $58.68
• Tier 2: Remaining use 2918.21 kL x $1.659 = $4,841.32

Assuming that the amount advised is correct, your sister's tenant used close to 3,000,000 litres or 3ML, it might also be noticeable at the Wyvenhoe Dam Wivenhoe | Seqwater

I'm calling BS - one tap cannot drain the biggest dam in Qld

 

Thanks. I was on the Urban Utilities page. I wondered if BC also charged for the State Bulk Water Charge? No idea if they can do this. On their unofficial invoice to her they’ve said the leak has resulted in 1139KL excess water consumption. I wonder if she can request to see the actual water bill from QUU. This still seems like a lot?!

 

I would make a counter offer of 1k

 

Without separate water meters for each unit, it’s all supposition.

 

That's still over 1.1 million litres of water (according to Sydney Water website https://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/...ments/document/zgrf/mdgw/~edisp/dd_080909.pdf a front garden tap would put out 18 litres/minute, or 64800 litres/day x 5 days = 324kL).

I still call BS.

I would want to see a few prior bills for the entire complex to confirm what the standard & excess usage was before even acknowledging any liability.

 

If you apply to the water board and send a copy of the plumbers bill stating there was a leak and that it has been repaired they will adjust the bill. This recently happened to us in Qld. They ask you to record the current meter reading then again a few weeks (month?) later to show what it would normally be and to show it's fixed. They refunded half.

 

Depending on which shire the residence is in, but you can't get an exemption on rentals in the BCC shire, possibly others are the same in QLD.

 

My tenant had a hot water system leak for about 3 months, so much that there were green algae growing in the gutter from the constant amount of water flowing, the bill came to about $300 over the normal amount.

 

I'm with you. We filled a 25m pool with 150,000l and it took 2.5 days and only cost about $600.

Tools

 

@LP1 some of your posts are contradictory

so where in your unit ????
Was it hot water of cold ? (Assuming you have your own individual hot water service unit).
*1, if it was a pipe in a wall = not your problem, if it was a flexible hose, tap or toilet you should pay for the repair.

but they didn't actually fix or replace anything ?

So, for the first quote (as in reply *1 above) not your problem, you do not own or are liable for the pipes in the walls (assuming that is where the leak was).
The pressure testing also is not your liability, as the BC have organised a pressure test of the common property water system, NOT your individual unit.

so a plumber has said your tapware needs to be replaced immediately

and you appear to of done nothing ??????
Was there a tap inside your unit "gushing" or not ??????

Please clarify

 

Thanks. In the BC letter they said the plumber traced the leak to 3 units and eventually to mine. A bath tap was ‘gushing’ into the bath. The unit was tenanted at the time so I am going off what I’ve been told by my agent. The day the tenant reported it, I asked my agent to send a plumber to fix it immediately. I’m in the process of getting details from my agent as to what exactly happened in those few days (this all happened Dec 2020, I received the BC letter only a few days ago). Hope this is a little clearer.

 

One meter, 12 users, no way to determine how much water you actually used. If it were me I'd push back and offer nothing. They think you're a soft target that's why they're trying this on.

 

So it's taken close to 9 months and two full billing periods by the Water Authority. That OC moves at glacial pace.