£45 per month water bill!

$17mma

Sarahsaver wrote:

i am not on a meter and my bill is about 35 a month, and I don't think thats excessive. Best check there's not a leak anywhere.

We are a family of 4 and are always conscious of water useage wash loads after 7pm, dish washer does not go on until after 7pm etc...

I just cant see how it could have risen to more than double the cost of what we are paying already.

As for checking for leaks, is that a job for a plumber? do we need our pipes assessed.

Headache just thinking about it.

deanos

Anglian Water will not estimate your bills for no good reason infact they try very hard to get a reading as it impacts on them alot if they dont read them , maybe you have an internal meter and its been estimated for a while due to access reasons and they have now been able to take a true reading and you have been underpaying.

Checking for a leak is very simple just turn the stoptap off under the sink then look at your meter if the dial is still spinning yu have a leak between the meter and where it enters the house, you are entitles to 1 free repair on your supply pipe per property and you will get money back if it has a leak by taking 2 readings 7 days apart to estimate your consumption.

---lee---

Xbigman wrote:

It sounds like they have read your meter and have realised they were under estimating. Take a reading now and look at your past few bills and compare readings.
Regards

X

This is exactly what happened to me a week or two ago but for my electric. They increased the DD from £30 to £36, then a few days later, another letter up from £36 to £43.

I called them up and it turned out they had been estimating for about a year and as a result I owed around £70. They were increasing the DD to get back what they were owed as well as current consumption.

Like you, I was surprised when I got the letter as I know that our electric usasge has gone down quite a bit in the last few months.

Anyway, I called them, settled the account and based on my last two months usage, they reduced the DD payment to £25. I'm going to make sure that I read the meters and send the reading in every month from now on, so I can keep a close eye on the utility bills.

Fortunately (with 4 people in the house), our water is unmetered – but that’s a whole other debate

viktory

I pay less than £30 per month from April - November. Thames Water is my supplier. Just had a thought, the water company should check for leaks if you contact them and express concerns about usage. They have all the gadgets....

---lee---

$17mma wrote:

We are a family of 4 and are always conscious of water useage wash loads after 7pm, dish washer does not go on until after 7pm etc...

I did not know you could be charged different rates for using water at different times of the day? I've not heard of that before. Is this scheme unique to your water company?

PS. Just checked and our water bill is £34.08 per month. Don't forget, the water company don't just charge for the water you use. What comes in, must go out so they also charge for sewage based on how much water you use as well as fall off rainwater from your roof (if you don't have a soakaway).

Lee.

$17mma

---lee--- wrote:

I did not know you could be charged different rates for using water at different times of the day? I've not heard of that before. Is this scheme unique to your water company?

I thought that using water at night was cheaper...

$17mma

ok so Anglian water are supposed to come out and read my meter. Surely it is not my fault that they have not done that and have possibly estimated our useage incorrectly. Even if they could not gain access to our meter why can an appointment not be made rather than (hopefully not) charging for unestimated excess useage?

---lee---

$17mma wrote:

I thought that using water at night was cheaper...

That's true for electric but ony if you have two meters and economy 7 as one of your electric tarrifs. In that case it's not cheaper from 7pm but something like 00:00. I don't have it but I'm sure someone who does can confirm this. The 7 refers to the number of hours in a 24 hour period that the cheaper rate applies i.e. 00:00 - 07:00 or 23:00 - 06:00 whatever it is.

To benefit from economy 7, you have to be a heavy user of electricity through the night. i.e. have electric storage heaters, heat your water with an immersion element etc.

Lee.

deanos

$17mma wrote:

ok so Anglian water are supposed to come out and read my meter. Surely it is not my fault that they have not done that and have possibly estimated our useage incorrectly. Even if they could not gain access to our meter why can an appointment not be made rather than (hopefully not) charging for unestimated excess useage?

Dosent matter whos fault it is you still have to pay for the water being used, if you have been getting estimated reading then you should have rang in the reading yourself or asked questions sooner.

Have you looked at your old bills as it will say if it was estimated, also it will have your meter serial number if it starts xxA then it will be an internal meter for sure , if its xxM then it could be internal or external

xx is the year it was installed eg 05Axxxxxxx

$17mma

deanos wrote:

Dosent matter whos fault it is you still have to pay for the water being used, if you have been getting estimated reading then you should have rang in the reading yourself or asked questions sooner.

Have you looked at your old bills as it will say if it was estimated, also it will have your meter serial number if it starts xxA then it will be an internal meter for sure , if its xxM then it could be internal or external

xx is the year it was installed eg 05Axxxxxxx

Ok so I have to ring them up and ensure that they have the correct readings. How often should I do this? every quarter or every month seen as we are pay monthly?

Am looking at a bill now and cant make head nor tale of it