SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Not Upheld

Clear Business Water

201808639 · Water › incorrect billing · Decision date: 01 June 2020

Full Decision

Summary

Mr C complained on behalf of Mr A, who owned a business. Mr C complained that Clear Business Water failed to bill the business appropriately. Mr A believed that his water bills were too high and he had extensive contact with Clear Business Water over a number of months whilst efforts were made to establish a reason for this.

After agreement with Mr A, Clear Business Water arranged for Scottish Water to conduct a site visit and the engineer identified that a valve close to the meter was the cause of the issue. This valve was fixed and meter readings were subsequently obtained in order to calculate a 'burst allowance' credit. A credit for a limited period was applied to Mr A's account, whilst non-payment charges were also cancelled. Mr A remained unhappy with Clear Business Water's response to his complaint and Mr C brought the complaint to us.

We found that, although it took a number of months to identify the issue with the water supply, Clear Business Water communicated with Mr A appropriately and they did not significantly contribute to the delay. We also noted that Clear Business Water had offered a goodwill payment to Mr A and subsequently extended the period for which the burst allowance credit was applied.

We concluded that there were no failings in the service provided to Mr A and we did not uphold the complaint.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201808639 as a PDF (24.33 KB) Updated: June 17, 2020