Mum's shock after racking up £63k bill during six-month water leak

A mum from Exeter racked up a water bill of more than £60,000 due to a leak which took six months to fix.

Chantelle Osman, who lives in Monkerton, has described the "absolute nightmare" of watching the bill increase - while also worrying the leak was causing damage to her home.

Chantelle, who lives in the flat with her toddler, said she panicked when she received a water bill asking her to pay £22,243.71.

She immediately queried it and it was recorded as a leak by South West Water.

However, the water company was unable to provide repairs as housing association Stonewater is responsible for providing maintenance.

Chantelle said the housing association sent out various contractors over the six months but they were unable to establish where the leak was coming from.

In the meantime, the bill continued to increase, most recently to more than £63,500.

Chantelle said having the huge amount of debt to her name has been "really stressful".

South West Water has confirmed she is not expected to pay the inflated bill and that it will be offering full leakage allowance.

Chantelle said: "It's really stressing me out because I have really severe mental health anyway.

"I've got this £63,000 debt in my name and they've already told me I won't have to pay for it but it's still on my credit file going against me.

"I've got a two-year-old here as well so it has been really stressful. I keep ringing up and they keep telling me it's going to happen and it doesn't happen. It's been an absolute nightmare."

Stonewater and South West Water have both said that the leak has now been fixed.

The water company put a temporary stop on Chantelle's account, meaning there will be no impact on her credit.

A spokesperson for South West Water said: "There was a leak on the customer’s private supply which was the reason for the inflated bill.

"We contacted the customer at the time to tell them that they would be receiving the bill but that they would not be expected to pay it.

"The leak was repaired on 12 September by the housing association which was responsible for carrying out the fix.

"We will be offering the customer a full leakage allowance to cover the bill and we have contacted the customer again to discuss this with them. We are sorry if this has caused any concern for the customer."

A spokesperson for Stonewater said: "We are sorry it has taken so long to get this problem fixed and for the stress and inconvenience this has caused our customer.

"Our contractor has been working for some time to identify the cause of the leak and, after extensive investigation, the leak was fixed on 12 September.

"Stonewater is now working with the water company to resolve the outstanding bill that was caused by the leak. We can confirm that our customer will not be charged for this bill."