Water Bills questions and comment

Gothicfairy · 27 August 2010 at 1:19PM

£80 a month is alot but we need more information.

Are you in arrears with the water company for your old property ?
Did you give them the meter reading the day you moved in ?
Have you checked the meter readings against your bill?
How many people live in your house ?

The payment plan is not the same as the bill and it can be a fair bit higher anyway based on answers to certain questions or just the way it was set based on people in the property.

To be able to help properly the meter reading from the day you moved in and the reading now are required.

CaptainAwesome · 30 August 2010 at 8:10PM

My Severn Trent account is supposedly about 60 quid in credit, I'm currently paying 23 quid a month , so would it be possible to have like a payment holiday of sorts to allow the credit in the account to take over or does no such thing exist?

Gothicfairy · 30 August 2010 at 9:44PM

Payment holiday..no ,can't be done with their billing system but you can cancel your plan until your next bill is due.
However if you are on a meter then the point is building credit to cover your next bill and if you cancel the plan now you will end up short come your next bill and having to either pay extra on a payment plan or make the short fall up.

If you are on RV billing then there should be no credit as such so you could cancel it and what until next year ( but I am guessing that is not the case)

maxipax · 22 September 2010 at 1:26PM

Hi Guys, don't know if anyone has asked anything like this before but here it goes!

My husband and I part rent/part buy our house since 2000. We have never had a water bill but do get general info from them occasionally about flood warnings etc which we have rung them about and registered for. We have always assumed (maybe foolishly) that the water rates were included in our rent we pay the housing association.

Today we have received our first water bill ever from water company for £811.58 for dates 31 Dec 2007 till 31 March 2011, to be paid by 1st October. :eek:

Obviously we are incredibly shocked and panicking, we just don't have that sort of money hanging around. I'm a bit too scared to ring them today as I'm not sure what to say. Do I tell them we have never paid anything since 2000 as they have only started the bill from 2007 which seems really odd. Is there a limit in how far back they can bill and that is why they aren't charging for the full amount of time. We pay council tax and have other utilities, etc so I'm not sure what has happened.

Do you think they will let us pay in installments, but I don't think it would be possible for us to pay it all by March, that would be about £135.00 per month which is beyond us.

Any response on this would be greatly appreciated.

babyfruitella · 22 September 2010 at 1:31PM

maxipax wrote: »

Hi Guys, don't know if anyone has asked anything like this before but here it goes!

My husband and I part rent/part buy our house since 2000. We have never had a water bill but do get general info from them occasionally about flood warnings etc which we have rung them about and registered for. We have always assumed (maybe foolishly) that the water rates were included in our rent we pay the housing association.

Today we have received our first water bill ever from water company for £811.58 for dates 31 Dec 2007 till 31 March 2011, to be paid by 1st October. :eek:

Obviously we are incredibly shocked and panicking, we just don't have that sort of money hanging around. I'm a bit too scared to ring them today as I'm not sure what to say. Do I tell them we have never paid anything since 2000 as they have only started the bill from 2007 which seems really odd. Is there a limit in how far back they can bill and that is why they aren't charging for the full amount of time. We pay council tax and have other utilities, etc so I'm not sure what has happened.

Do you think they will let us pay in installments, but I don't think it would be possible for us to pay it all by March, that would be about £135.00 per month which is beyond us.

Any response on this would be greatly appreciated.

Did you never think to ask your housing association if the rate was included?? I cant see how you can possibly get out of paying it tbh. You've used the water. I'd count myself lucky its only since 2007 if I were you. Speak to them about paying in installments. They should allow that.

Cardew · 22 September 2010 at 1:35PM

Water bills can be claimed back 6 years, regardless of whose fault the charges were not raised.

Do you have a meter - all houses built in the last 20 years will have a meter. Houses prior to 1990 will have a Rateable Value(RV)(unless a meter has been subsequently fitted)

How many cubic metres have are on your bill if metered. If it is to March 2011 it will be estimated.

Perhaps you could include a bit more detail from your bill.

babyfruitella · 22 September 2010 at 1:37PM

I wonder if anyone can help me. Myself, my Husband & 1 year old live in a pre-1990 3 bed link detached property with a small lawn at the back, & a paved front. My husband & I each shower daily, & LO has 1 shallow bath a day, sometimes 2 if he's extra grubby. The washing machine is used 4, maybe 5 times a week maximum. We dont have a dishwasher. Our water bill with United Utilities is £49 a month, compared to my parents who pay less than £30 & live in a semi detached on the same street with my 22 year old brother. They have their washing machine on daily & between them have 3 showers daily & my mum has a bath a couple of times a week.

Does this sound right? £49 a month seems an awful lot? We're not on a water meter, & we're not paying any arrears (we were last year & it was costing us £63 a month then)

Any help appreciated.

Gothicfairy · 23 September 2010 at 11:43AM

Baby, if you don't have a meter then it will be RV and in that case the bill is correct.

Apply for a meter and see if that helps.

Cardew, they will have to be on RV charges as the billing system does not allow future est readings to be added. If they are billed to march 2011 then it is a fix rate.

Cardew · 23 September 2010 at 12:55PM

Gothicfairy wrote: »

Cardew, they will have to be on RV charges as the billing system does not allow future est readings to be added. If they are billed to march 2011 then it is a fix rate.

Yes you are correct.

What I meant was they(Severn Trent) estimate my usage on a meter for purposes of calculating my Direct Debit(obviously based on past consumption) for the year ahead. - in Nov 2009 I got my schedule of DD payments to Sep 2010.

However as maxipax wasn't paying by DD it doesn't apply.

Cardew · 23 September 2010 at 1:01PM

Babyfruit,

As you are not on a meter I doesn't matter if you used virtually no water or masses, you are not charged for the amount you use.

Get a meter! If in the unlikely event a meter costs more, you can switch back to your present charges as long as you do so within 12 months.

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