Which is cheaper? Meter or bill?

honeyD

Hi, This is our first house so Im not too sure how everything works so far so I thought I would ask for some advice here.
We took over the tenancy for our home on 15th September 08.
Today we received a water bill from Northumbrian Water for £171.16 for the dates 16/09/2008 to 31/03/2009. This seems a bit much to me?

The bill says:
Water charges £
Fixed @ £71.50 per year 38.59
Rateable Value Charge £157 @ 43.13p in the £ 36.55

Sewerage Charges
Fixed @ £101.00 per year 54.51
Rateable Value Charge £157 @ 48.99p in the £ 41.51
Total: £171.16

So this is the bill for only 6 months. We are only 2 people in a 3 bed semi, with 2 dogs. We do not use an extreme amount of water. We wash up once/twice a day with not even a full bowl of water. We use the bath 2/3 times per week. Only other things we use water for are obviously washing hands during the day and getting water to drink. Would this really amount to £171 in 6 months? Would we be better off getting a water meter? We already have electric and gas on prepay so it wouldnt make much difference really if we did get a meter. I was going to call up and get a Paypoint card sent out but I would much rather do whichever would save us money as we dont have much to work with!
Any advice welcome please
Thanks

Edit: We do not have a dishwasher and we would use a hosepipe once a month if that. We wash clothes maybe 4 times a week on a 30 minute cycle.

moonrakerz

If your bill is calculated on your rateable value, then it is what it is - full stop.

Ask your landlord if he can get a meter installed. This will cost nothing, and you will then pay for the actual water you use. If you find that this is more expensive than the previous method you can revert to the rateable value method within the first 12 months.

I am sorry to say this, but you are in your first house and this is when people start to realise how much, gas, electricity and water cost. When you were at home and Mum and Dad paid the bills you were insulated from these costs.

Read all your meters regularly, know how much you are paying for each kWh of gas and electric - work out your weekly useage/cost - it will prevent some nasty surprises later on.

Magentasue

I may have got this wrong, but it sounds as if you are thinking a water meter is PAYG - like your gas and electric?

The meter just measures water used - you still get a bill every six months. However your water is charged, you can pay monthly - your annual bill is divided by 10 or 12 and you pay Apr-Jan or Apr-Mar.

While you are charged by rateable value, your payments are fixed no matter how much you use. If you have a meter, your payments can be increased or decreased if you are using more or less than predicted.

If you have a meter, read regularly so you can predict the bill and so you are warned if there is water leaking that you cannot see.

The rule of thumb is that if there are fewer people than bedrooms in your house, a water meter is likely to work out cheaper than rateable value. Once you have one installed, as said you have a year to revert back. After that you're committed to be charged by meter.

honeyD

Hi, thanks for the replies.
Yes, I did think this was like a prepay thing until I read up a bit more after making my post.
Would a housing association allow a meter to be put in?
moonrakerz, it is not such a shock to us as it will be to some people who have just moved from living with parents. We already paid towards all of the bills in the household when living with them.

Another question since it looks like I will be paying the same anyway, if I chose to pay by paypoint can I now pay weekly to pay off the £171 or do I have to make the full payment then pay next 6 months lot with the card? A little confusing for newbies!

whatatwit

My water board allows me to make weekly/monthly payments for the current bill.
Next March, you will get the next bill and that is usually paid over 10 months.

Magentasue

Best to ring the water board. They're usually very helpful about arranging payment plans - ask for monthly payments if that's what you want to do. Don't know about housing associations and water meters, I'd think it was your decision as you're the bill payer, but again, a quick phone call will sort it out.

You'll almost certainly be better off on a water meter.

Psykicpup

Magentasue wrote: »

Best to ring the water board. They're usually very helpful about arranging payment plans - ask for monthly payments if that's what you want to do. Don't know about housing associations and water meters, I'd think it was your decision as you're the bill payer, but again, a quick phone call will sort it out.

You'll almost certainly be better off on a water meter.

In housing !!! I assume that you have more than a 6 month tenancy in which case you dont need permission............