Thames Water apologises after £145,562 is taken from customer's account

Thames Water apologised on Thursday, 1 October, after an incorrect meter reading led it to debit £145,562 from the bank account of Adam Bainbridge, a north London customer. Bainbridge's family said the payment disrupted their ability to pay bills that morning. The company told the BBC it had returned the money and apologised to him personally.

Bainbridge, a teacher, spotted the debit while routinely checking his accounts on Thursday morning, according to the BBC. His wife Julia told the PA news agency that the sum took their account considerably into overdraft. She said payments Adam had planned to make from his card and account were blocked.

How the £145,562 debit affected the family

Julia said the couple discovered the problem before 8am while getting their three-year-old ready for nursery. At that hour, she said, they struggled to reach anyone by phone. Adam initially dealt with a Thames Water chatbot, which indicated that the error would be corrected in the next payment, according to her account reported by the BBC.

Adam then contacted his bank, and the money was returned to his account, Julia said. She described the bank as relatively quick to reverse the payment while Thames Water looked into it. The BBC also reported Thames Water's confirmation that the money had been returned. Its account does not establish precisely when the bank completed the refund.

What Thames Water says went wrong

A Thames Water spokesperson attributed the debit to human error originating from an incorrect meter reading. The company apologised to Bainbridge and his family and said it had spoken to him directly. The BBC report does not say whether the reading was entered manually or explain how the resulting payment passed through the company's existing checks.

Thames Water said it was introducing additional checks to its processes to prevent the mistake happening again. It also said it had offered Bainbridge a gesture of goodwill and was continuing to work with him to resolve the matter fully. The company did not specify the value of that offer or give a timetable for the new checks in the BBC report.

Water bill complaints have risen across the sector

The incident comes amid a sharp rise in water customer complaints, according to the Consumer Council for Water's 2025–26 household complaints report. CCW said complaints brought to the watchdog increased by 84%, from 8,235 in 2024–25 to 15,115 in 2025–26. It described that as the steepest increase in its 20-year history.

Complaints made directly to water companies rose by 56%, from 205,853 to 321,347 over the same period, CCW reported. Billing was a major source of concern: direct complaints about billing increased by 72%, while billing complaints brought to CCW rose by 97%. The figures cover the industry as a whole and a broad range of billing problems.

CCW said the wider increase occurred against a backdrop of substantial bill rises and customer concern and confusion about charges. Its report cannot show how often an incorrect meter reading produces a debit like Bainbridge's, and it does not establish what caused this particular failure. Thames Water's own explanation remains the incorrect reading and the human error behind it.

For Bainbridge's household, the immediate debit has been reversed, according to both the family's account and Thames Water's confirmation to the BBC. Whether the company's promised checks have been put in place, and whether its goodwill offer has been accepted, were not established in the report. Thames Water said it was still working with Bainbridge to settle the matter fully.