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We are renting an apartment inside a block, and were given a large water bill by the landlord this month (2,900 pesos, or 74 cubic meters - our normal usage is about
. We questioned this bill with the landlord, and on further inspection, discovered a leak where the water supply enters our apartment, at the back of the kitchen cabinet. It was hidden out of view inside the cabinet, behind where the floor tiles end, in an indent in the cement floor, and it was only visible with a flashlight, that there was a damp patch in the cement there.
Since this was not caused by any fault of our own, and we could not have reasonably seen it or suspected a leak (until receiving the large water bill), but was caused by defective plumbing/maintenance which is the responsibility of the landlord here, I do not feel we should be responsible for paying all of the large bill. In fact, since the leak was just below the level of our floor before it enters our apartment, it could be argued that it was not in our apartment at all.
I also suspect that the leak was caused by the pipes having been disturbed, by the repair of a previous leak (within last month) within the cr, just adjacent the inlet in the kitchen.
To cause more confusion - we aren't billed directly by Maynilad, but pay our landlord - but for some reason it appears that the account name on the water bill is another renter here, a neighbor. Our meter appears to be a submeter off the meter that he is charged for. We do not wish to do anything that might cause undue problems for him.
My question is: where do we stand legally? What are our options?
Many thanks in advance
We are renting an apartment inside a block, and were given a large water bill by the landlord this month (2,900 pesos, or 74 cubic meters - our normal usage is about
. We questioned this bill with the landlord, and on further inspection, discovered a leak where the water supply enters our apartment, at the back of the kitchen cabinet. It was hidden out of view inside the cabinet, behind where the floor tiles end, in an indent in the cement floor, and it was only visible with a flashlight, that there was a damp patch in the cement there.Since this was not caused by any fault of our own, and we could not have reasonably seen it or suspected a leak (until receiving the large water bill), but was caused by defective plumbing/maintenance which is the responsibility of the landlord here, I do not feel we should be responsible for paying all of the large bill. In fact, since the leak was just below the level of our floor before it enters our apartment, it could be argued that it was not in our apartment at all.
I also suspect that the leak was caused by the pipes having been disturbed, by the repair of a previous leak (within last month) within the cr, just adjacent the inlet in the kitchen.
To cause more confusion - we aren't billed directly by Maynilad, but pay our landlord - but for some reason it appears that the account name on the water bill is another renter here, a neighbor. Our meter appears to be a submeter off the meter that he is charged for. We do not wish to do anything that might cause undue problems for him.
My question is: where do we stand legally? What are our options?
Many thanks in advance
