Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

ragz_2 · 4 April 2010 at 7:38PM

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Its because the cost per cubic meter is higher for waste water than for supplying clean water.

I emailed them and queried my bill, they told me the same. I worked out it's almost exactly twice as much, but my bills are £13 for supply and £33 for waste, they have reduced my bill to £17 as I was in credit and my meter reading shows I should only have been paying about £25.

H_Gale · 8 April 2010 at 3:12PM

When my mum died in 2002, she left me our home, and with only me living there, I checked out a water meter as soon as I could. Living in the South West (with the highest water bills in the UK), it literally was the best decision ever, and it has saved me money over the past 8 years. If the number of bedrooms is more than the number of people, it could save you money too, don't flush it away!

alanseymour · 29 April 2010 at 11:50AM

I live in 5 bedroom house in Mid-Sussex, my bills are calculated by the rateable value of my property which is £223. Yes, at present we have six adults living here but only one is at home all day all the others are out. So I'm wondering whether it would be beneficial to change to a water-meter.

In Mid-Sussex, our supply of freshwater is billed by South-East Water and I currently pay: Water Supply £240.39, Standing Charge for water supply £23 = £269.39

For my wastewater I'm billed by Southern Water and currently pay:
Wastewater rateable value charge £234.37, Wastewater standing charge £27.28, Surface water drainage £0, (my property has soakaways) Highway drainage £8 = £269.65

Like surface drainage that I got removed from my bill when it first appeared some years back. I never been happy about having to pay for Highway drainage. I thought this was the responsibility of the County Council and therefore this should be reflected in the Council Tax payments? I took this matter up in 2000, with Southern Water, West Sussex County Council and the Mid-Sussex MP but got nowhere!

Are there other people in other areas of England & Wales who pay a Highway Drainage Charge as part of their water / sewage or sewage bills?

Alan

Cardew · 29 April 2010 at 12:14PM

alanseymour wrote: »

I live in 5 bedroom house in Mid-Sussex, my bills are calculated by the rateable value of my property which is £223. Yes, at present we have six adults living here but only one is at home all day all the others are out. So I'm wondering whether it would be beneficial to change to a water-meter.

Welcome to the forum.

You can get a meter, and if it doesn't work out cheaper, revert back to charging on you Rateable Value within 12 months.

The average consumption per person is 60 cubic metres per year - so 360 cubic metres for your househlod.

You can look up prices per cubic metre for sewerage and water on their website, and make whatever assumptions you wish for your annual consumption, but I suspect that RV will be the cheaper option.

tlc_warrington · 1 May 2010 at 11:46PM

alanseymour wrote: »

Are there other people in other areas of England & Wales who pay a Highway Drainage Charge as part of their water / sewage or sewage bills?

Alan

all pay highwats driange of you have acces to a water supply all companies are the same

stevelsmith · 5 May 2010 at 9:53PM

robpitt wrote: »

I live alone in an unmetered flat and my water bill is whopping £462/year!
This is because Thames Water have used a rateable value of 359 which I guess is qutie high. Anyone know how and where I can check the rateable value?

Is there any way to convert the rateable value back into something meaningful (even if it is in 1990 money)?

Hi Robpitt
We've just moved from a metered to an unmetered house, both with Thames Water. Like you our unmetered bill for the new place was £462! I went online and requested a meter. About 5 days later a guy turned up to check whether a meter could be fitted. Unfortunately it could not as - unusually for a detached house - we are on a shared mains with three other houses. But the guy did say that because we had requested a meter and it couldn't be fitted, we would be put on an assessed charge based on the number of people in the house rather than the rateable value, and this will be cheaper. Haven't got the revised bill yet, but will let you know what it is when I get it. So might be worth applying online for a meter and see if they can put you on assessed basis rather than rateable.
Steve

ortek · 10 May 2010 at 11:53AM

Hi All,

This is my first post to this forum and hoping that people can help in sharing information or if anyone has had a similar experience.

I have been living in my rented property for about 3 years now but never got a water bill. This was not entirely my fault as i did inform Thames water earlier.

Anyway things got sorted out recently and i got a huge bill of more than £1400 based on RV which i have decided to pay in installments.

I was told that if i had a water meter i would only have to pay 60% less, so i have complained with Thames water, however dont expect much out of it.

My question is that if Thames water dont do anything, what consequences will i have to bear if i withold payments and try and contest the unfair billing.

Or If anyone has an alternative path to pursue that would be really helpful. Open to suggestions.

Gothicfairy · 10 May 2010 at 2:18PM

if you withold payment they will pass the debt to a debt collection agency and you will then be made to pay that way.

In truth as you used the water is was and is your reponsiblity to insure you are billed and that the rate of billing is correct, as you do not have a meter RV is the way you will be billed. It might seem unfair but I am afraid that is the way it goes.

There is little you can do about it now , get a meter fitted will help your future bills though so that is the way to go.

Jimiwake · 16 July 2010 at 7:59AM

Hi all,

I've recently signed up to a new company called Smart Source Water who offer guaranteed savings off water bills.

The theory is that they can analyse the bill to find ways of cutting it down as most water companies are overcharging through various surcharges or using incorrect rateable values.

So far so good. Has anyone else used this company or got any feedback?

Gothicfairy · 16 July 2010 at 9:47AM

I have heard of such things but would be suprised if they could really guarantee as I don't agree most companies are overcharging.
If you have a meter say, then most would charge standing charges and cubic meters and surface water drainage. Apart from the banding of SWD there is not really much that can go wrong with that.
Assessed is 3 domestic ( plus a single person if the company does it) and although the banding might be wrong most are right.
RV is not something you can prove wrong now at all, no one can. Even if the RV is historic (in old computer systems held with the water company) there is no way to check at all and no rebate would be given and the RV would never be changed. The only thing would be to either fit a meter if the property has been altered or apply assessed charges based on type of property.

It does work more often for commerical properies as the SWD is based on site area and that can often be wrong as can the type of water/ used water. They might have a higher or lower return depending on what they do.

Domestic though are vary rarely really wrong and it they are wrong they can be sorted out by the customer through documentation. IE they say your SWD is a band 3 detached house, you live in a terrace which should be band 1 . Easy, ask for a visit or send in a copy of the deeds, rent agreement etc.

So not sure I would bother as I really can not see what they can do.

Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

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