If you have had a concealed leak on your property that has caused a sudden increase in your bill, you may be eligible for a Concealed Leak Allowance.
The Concealed Leak Allowance:
- refunds you 70% of the excess water usage charges that result from the leak. Read more below about how this is calculated. This percentage may vary by customer type (see below for more details).
- can only be claimed once per property, per ownership.
- comes in the form of a 'Leak Allowance' credit on your account.
- can be applied to a maximum of 2 billing quarters (based on the last two billing periods of the leak, including the one in which the leak was repaired).
If you have a shared meter (e.g. you’re in a duplex or apartment), your rebate will be calculated just like your bills: as a percentage of your overall usage.
The Concealed Leak Allowance does not cover water loss from:
- leaking taps, toilet cisterns, hot-water systems or other water appliances
- faulty plumbing or human error resulting in the filling of a rainwater tank
- property sprinkler or other irrigation systems
- swimming pools, spas, ponds and other outdoor water features, or their related fittings.
Concealed Leak Allowance by Customer Type
| Customer type | Unitywater water usage allowance % offered above average use | State Govt bulk water usage allowance % offered above average use 4 |
Sewerage usage allowance % offered above average use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential including retirement villages | 70% | 70%3 |
100% |
|
Not-for-profit1
|
70% | 70%3 | 100% |
|
Pensioners |
100% | 100%3 | 100% |
|
Residential financial hardship |
70% | 70%3 | 100% |
| Non-residential including small customers2 | 70% | 70%3 | 100% |
|
All other customers |
0% | 0% | 100% |
1 Exclusions apply, reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
2 Non-residential small customers are those customers consuming no more than 100kL per annum.
3 Bulk water rebate funded pursuant to, and for the duration of the South East Queensland Bulk Water Concealed Leak Remission Scheme announced on 3 August 2023.
4 The average daily consumption for approved dialysis and medical condition customers shall include annual allowances as per Unitywater policy.
South East Queensland Bulk Water Concealed Leak Remission Scheme
The Queensland Government announced on 3 August 2023 the South East Queensland Bulk Water Concealed Leak Remission Scheme to help people affected by a high water bill from a concealed leak.
How does it work?
Unitywater will process both the Unitywater and Queensland Government allowances for approved, eligible customers. Applications for the remission scheme will open to Unitywater customers from 2 August 2023. Please apply using the Concealed Leak Allowance Request Form.
How to apply
Are you eligible?
If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, you can apply for a Concealed Leak Allowance:
- Are you the owner or authorised person on the account?
- Can you confirm the leak was concealed? Policy definition: Water escaping on the customer’s side of the water meter, which is hidden from view, be it underground or within concrete, or underneath a building, and where an owner or occupant could not reasonably be expected to know of its existence, as determined by Unitywater.
- Have you had it repaired by a licensed plumber?
- Has the leak been repaired within the past 12 months?
- Do you have the plumber’s invoice (or Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) if not repaired by a licensed plumber) detailing the repairs?
- Is this the first and only time you have applied for a Concealed Leak Allowance for excess water usage on this property?
The process
- Confirm you are eligible.
- Submit the completed Concealed Leak Allowance Request Form.
- We’ll send you an acknowledgement letter or email confirming we’ve received your request.
- The Metering Team will review your application and advise you of the outcome in writing. To enable us to review your application efficiently please ensure you have provided your meter read and date on the application form.
Please note: If you’ve received an allowance for excess water usage on the same property in the past, you will not be eligible to receive it again.
To apply
Please complete and submit the form below, along with the plumber's invoice or a Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) detailing the repair of the leak:
Are you eligible?
If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, you can apply for a Concealed Leak Allowance:
- Are you the owner or authorised Body Corporate representative listed on the account?
- Can you confirm the leak was concealed?
- Have you had it repaired by a licensed plumber?
- Do you have the plumber’s invoice (or Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) if not repaired by a licensed plumber) detailing the repairs?
- Has the leak been repaired within the last 12 months?
- Is this the first and only time you have applied for a Concealed Leak Allowance for excess water usage on this property?
The process
- Confirm you are eligible.
- Submit the completed Concealed Leak Allowance Request Form.
- We’ll send you an acknowledgement letter or email confirming we’ve received your request.
- The Metering Team will review your application and advise you of the outcome in writing. To enable us to review your application efficiently please ensure you have provided your meter read and date on the application form.
Please note: If you have a shared meter (duplex or apartment), the allowance will be calculated just like your bills: as a percentage of your overall usage.
To apply
Please complete and submit the form below, along with the plumber's invoice or a Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) detailing the repair of the leak:
We examine your billing history to calculate your daily average usage in the last 12 months prior to the leak.
We then look at the bill/s that recorded the leak to calculate the amount of excess water usage.
The allowance for excess water usage is 70% of the excess water usage charges and a 100% of the excess sewerage usage charges (if applicable). This is applied as a 'Leak Allowance' credit on your account.
| FOR EXAMPLE | |
|---|---|
|
Normal water usage |
$200 |
|
Now (with a concealed leak) |
$600 |
|
$600 minus $200 = |
$400 |
|
70% of $400 = |
$280 |
|
Your Leak Allowance = |
$280 plus excess sewerage usage charges (if applicable) |
Small business customers using no more than 100 kL of water per annum may be eligible to receive the Concealed Leak Allowance.
Are you eligible?
If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, you can apply for a Concealed Leak Allowance:
- Are you the owner or authorised person on a non-residential account that has used no more than 100 kL of water in the 12 months prior to you leak?
- Can you confirm the leak was concealed?
- Have you had it repaired by a licensed plumber?
- Do you have the plumber’s invoice (or Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) if not repaired by a licensed plumber) detailing the repairs?
- Has the leak been repaired within the last 12 months?
- Is this the first and only time you have applied for a Concealed Leak Allowance for excess water usage on this property?
The process
- Confirm you are eligible.
- Submit the completed Concealed Leak Allowance Request Form.
- We’ll send you an acknowledgement letter or email confirming we’ve received your request.
- The Metering Team will review your application and advise you of the outcome in writing. To enable us to review your application efficiently please ensure you have provided your meter read and date on the application form.
Please note: If you have a shared meter (e.g. a duplex), the allowance will be calculated just like your bills: as a percentage of your overall usage.
To apply
Please complete and submit the form below, along with the plumber's invoice or a Statutory Declaration (PDF 108KB) detailing the repair of the leak:
