Yorkshire water - am I paying too much? Worth getting a meter?

AstarothCY

Hello, I live in a semi-detached house in Fulford, York. We are 3 university students although the house technically has 4 bedrooms, the landlord kindly agreed to let it as a 3-bed since the 4th one is a box room. It's a fairly nice area and the house has been well looked after but it's nothing special. Our tenancy is from beginning of Aug 2008 to end of July 2009. It's our final year so we'll all be moving away after that.

We are paying Yorkshire Water £247.79 for the period from 01/08/08 to 31/03/09. Now, I know that since we don't have a meter, this is calculated from the Rateable Value of the property which we (and YW) have no control over. However, this really seems extremely high to me. We are paying more for water per month than we are paying for gas, and surely gas would be more expensive! We don't even use very much water, we are at uni most of the day and all take showers because we don't have time for baths . We also don't have a dishwasher and have a water saving toilet. Also, the property was completely vacated for the first 2 months and will also be vacated for the last month of our tenancy.

My questions are:
1. Are we paying too much?
2. If so, what can we do about it, considering the fact that we'll only be here for another 6-7 months?
3. Is there any way to challenge the rateable value of the property, get YW to charge us less for water and also get refunded for what we've paid so far?
4. If getting a meter is the best solution, how long does it take for them to install one, and are they generally likely to not cause a lot of trouble and waste a lot of our time in order to do so?
5. (If we get a meter) Is it reasonable to challenge what we've been paying so far after it becomes evident that our usage was a lot lower than what we've been paying? I.e. if it turns out that on the meter we are paying, say, £20/month, can we argue that our usage has been the same since the start and therefore request a refund?
6. Even if we don't change anything, would we have good standing to ask for a refund for those first 2 months' worth, if we can get our landlord to certify that the property was in fact empty?

Sorry about the barrage but I only recently realised just how much of my money goes towards utilities and want to make sure I'm not being blatantly ripped off.


Edit: Interesting - I used the water usage calculator on uswitch.com and it says that I would save £78 in a year if I got a meter.

Headsabovewater

Quick answers:
1.Its is high but it is a 4 bed house
2. Nothing
3.There is no way to alter the RV of a property.
4.Meter fitting times are depandant of water companies call yours and ask,
It usualy only takes one appointment for a meter fitting.
5.No you are billed on RV until the meter is fitted then on the meter from then on and it will not effect previous bills.
6.You can but try but the only way he can do that is to write in a say it was empty,and lets be honest if it was that simple no one would be paying for water bills.

Also remember you will still need the landlords permission to fit a meter in his property, and although at the moment it may lower your bill it may be more expencsive for his next tennants if it is a large family.so he might not want you to have a meter.

will-he-payitoff

See your landlord and get a meter fitted, it costs us a family of 3 about £40 per quarter

AstarothCY

Thanks, I'll be doing that today. I'll also see whether I should be getting charged for surface water drainage. I will actually bother asking for a refund after a few months on the meter for the money we've paid so far if our usage is massively lower because, frankly, I consider that theft.

Headsabovewater

You will not get any money back for what you were billed before.
Your bills will be based on RV upto when the meter is fitted then on the meter readings from then on in.

Its like asking for money back from a supermarket because the bag of apples you purchased last week are on offer this week and are now cheaper.

AstarothCY

I appreciate your input but I, unlike most people, like to demand to be treated fairly. If the rules in place right now protect the company and hurt me then I will demand for the rules to be changed. It's as simple as that. Also, I think your apples analogy is not exactly sound.

Fire_Fox

AstarothCY wrote: »

I only recently realised just how much of my money goes towards utilities and want to make sure I'm not being blatantly ripped off.

I will actually bother asking for a refund after a few months on the meter for the money we've paid so far if our usage is massively lower because, frankly, I consider that theft.

By all means ask for a refund for the period the property was empty, but I don't see why you have accepted bills in your name for a property you didn't live in anyway? IMO you don't have a leg to stand on if Yorkshire Water refuse to backdate any changes to your billing. You are all third year students, so at least one of you was living out of halls last year or you know people in the year above. You have had since September to realise that your water bills were on the high side. Did you not ask the landlord or the utility companies what the predicted bills were so you could budget?

It's not a rip off and it's not theft. The system is as fair as it can be, same as the council tax system. Bigger house than neighbours = higher bill than neighbours. You chose to live as three in a four bed house. This is something you have learned at a young age which will stand you in good stead for the rest of your lives.