Water Leak Between Meter And House UK

Reviewed by the DCI Leak Detection team · Last updated June 2026

A wet patch in the garden. A meter that won't stop ticking. A bill that's crept up for no reason. A leak on the buried pipe between your meter and your front door is one of the most confusing problems a homeowner can face. The water is underground, so you can't see it, and it isn't obvious who pays to find and fix it. This guide sets out who is responsible, how the leak is found, and how to claim back what you can.

Who is responsible for a water leak between meter and house?

This is where most homeowners get caught out. The pipework into your home is split between two owners, and the dividing line is your property boundary, usually where you'll find a company stop-tap.

According to the Consumer Council for Water and Ofwat, the water company is responsible for the main and the communication pipe up to the boundary, while the supply pipe from the boundary to your home is yours to maintain. Here's the breakdown.

So a leak on the run between the meter and your house almost always falls to you. One exception worth knowing: if the supply pipe is shared with neighbours, responsibility (and cost) is normally shared between the properties it serves. If your supplier has flagged a problem on your side, they can serve a formal notice under Section 75 of the Water Industry Act 1991 requiring the waste to be put right. That's another reason not to sit on it.

Signs you have a leak between the water meter and house

These leaks rarely announce themselves. Because the pipe is buried, the water often tracks away underground and surfaces somewhere unexpected, or not at all. The tell-tale signs fall into two groups.

Outside the house:

• A patch of grass that stays lush or green when everything around it is dry
• Ground that's permanently damp, soft or muddy with no obvious cause
• Paving, a drive or path that has sunk, lifted or cracked
• A meter box that fills with water and stays full once the weather's dry

On the system:

• The meter dial keeps moving with every tap and appliance turned off
• Water pressure that has dropped gradually over weeks
• A bill that's risen with no change in how much water you use
• The sound of running water when nothing is on

If the bill was your first clue rather than a visible puddle, our guide to a high water bill with no visible leak walks through the early checks in more detail.

How to find a water leak between meter and house

There are two stages: confirming a leak exists, which you can do yourself, and locating it precisely, which is a job for specialist equipment.

The meter test (confirm the leak)

1. Turn off all water inside. Every tap, the washing machine, dishwasher and toilet supply.
2. Find your meter, usually under a small cover near the boundary, and note the reading or watch the dial.
3. Wait and watch. If the dial or the small flow indicator keeps moving with everything off, water is escaping somewhere.
4. Close the internal stop tap (often under the kitchen sink) and check the meter again. If it's still moving, the leak is on the buried supply pipe between the meter and the house.
5. Note the readings and take photos. You'll want this evidence for any leak allowance or insurance claim.

If you're not sure where your stop tap is, see our guide on finding the water shut-off valve.

Pinpointing it precisely (the specialist stage)

The meter test tells you a leak exists; it can't tell you where on a pipe that might run anywhere from a few metres to a long buried route. That's what professional underground water leak detection is for. The main non-invasive methods are:

• Acoustic detection. Ground microphones and correlators listen for the sound of water escaping under pressure, then triangulate the source.
• Tracer gas. A safe hydrogen/nitrogen mix is introduced into the pipe. It escapes at the leak and is detected at the surface, which works on plastic pipes that are hard to hear.
• Thermal imaging. This picks up the temperature difference where escaping water cools or warms the surrounding ground or floor.

Used together, these locate a buried leak to a small, specific spot, so the only ground that gets opened is the bit that has to be. For leaks closer to the main or on the incoming supply, the same approach underpins our mains water leak detection.

Should you try to dig for it yourself?

It's tempting, but digging blind is how a small repair turns into a big one. Supply pipes in the UK are buried deep: typically a minimum of 750mm in soft ground and 900mm under driveways, and no more than 1350mm, to protect them from frost and damage (a requirement reflected in the Water Regulations and Building Regulations Approved Document G). Reaching one means a deep trench, often through concrete or tarmac, with no guarantee you've dug in the right place.

There's also the risk of striking a gas or electricity service, and the fact that work on the pressurised supply pipe should be done to current water regulations. In practice, locating the leak first, then opening the ground once in one spot, is faster, cheaper and far less disruptive than trial-and-error excavation. For a wider how-to, see our guide on how to find a water leak underground.

Repair help and water-company leak allowances

The cost falls into two separate questions: help with the repair, and reducing the bill for the water you've lost.

Help with the repair. Schemes vary by company, and it's worth checking your supplier's own leak code of practice rather than assuming a "free repair." South West Water, for example, offers a discretionary contribution of £100 towards a repair and £250 towards a full replacement of a private supply pipe, provided the work is done within 30 days of you becoming aware of the leak and you submit a valid invoice. This is not an open-ended free repair.

Reducing the bill (leak allowance). If you're metered, most companies offer a leak allowance once the leak is fixed, crediting the water lost through the leak. With South West Water you take a meter reading before and after the repair, then apply; allowances are limited to one per property every 24 months and can include the sewerage element where the lost water didn't enter the drains. Keep your repair invoice and readings, because without them there's nothing to assess. If your supplier contacted you first, our guide on what to do when South West Water says you have a leak covers the next steps.

Insurance and trace & access

Many home insurance policies include trace and access cover, which pays the cost of finding a hidden leak and making good the damage caused by reaching it: lifting a floor or opening a drive, then putting it back. Typical limits run from £5,000 to £10,000, and it's a common feature of UK buildings cover.

The catch is what it doesn't cover: the repair of the pipe itself is usually treated as wear and tear and excluded, and trace and access is separate from the escape-of-water cover that deals with any damage the water caused inside. Escape-of-water claims are big business. The Association of British Insurers puts industry payouts at around £1.8 million a day, so insurers expect a clear, documented report. A professional, insurer-ready trace and access report showing how the leak was found is what supports the claim. Our guide to what trace and access cover is explains the detail.

Frequently asked questions