Kingston Council legal action over water refund claim

Kingston Council is pursuing a case against one of its tenants to pre-empt refund claims

A council is taking one of its tenants to court to ensure it will not have to pay out water charge refunds.

Kingston Council in London is actively pursuing a High Court claim against a tenant who complained he should get a refund in line with a landmark ruling against another authority.

Southwark Council repaid 41,000 council tenants £21m after the High Court ruled it had been overcharging them.

Kingston Council says it never inflated water charges.

Southwark Council had been buying and reselling water from Thames Water, rather than acting as an "agent" and being paid a commission to collect rates.

This meant it was charging more commission than the Water Resale Order 2006 permitted, and it had to pay the difference back to tenants.

Following the ruling, some London councils set aside millions of pounds for repayments.

However, Kingston Council was not one of them.

'Entitled to a refund'

It said it collected water charges on behalf of Thames Water until 1 April but added that it "at no point [acted] as a water reseller, or inflated charges".

In legal documents seen by the BBC, it said it had been acting as Thames Water's "agent" and was not charging more than if tenants had been dealing with Thames Water directly.

It is now pursuing a High Court claim against a tenant who "contended to the [council] that he has been overcharged by it for water and sewerage charges and is entitled to a refund", according to a legal document.

The council is seeking "declarations" from the High Court that it did not act as a water re-seller or overcharge its tenants.

Since April, tenants have been paying Thames Water directly, the council confirmed.