I may not read my meter!!!!

oldwiring

I am allowed to read n=my gas and electricty meter but undersatnd that I am not permitted to read the water meter for myself. Is that fact? I know it might be difficult if one hasn;t a key to opend the cover in the road where it is located.

If you don't know you can't control or verify sated usage.

Cardew

oldwiring wrote:

I am allowed to read n=my gas and electricty meter but undersatnd that I am not permitted to read the water meter for myself. Is that fact? I know it might be difficult if one hasn;t a key to opend the cover in the road where it is located.

If you don't know you can't control or verify sated usage.

It is not so with Severn Trent.

My meter is installed in my kitchen. If I am out the meter reader leaves a card for me to fill in the reading and leave it where it can be read from outside or phone in the reading.

I was one of the first to have a meter installed(at my expense in those days) and, as stated above, it is at the point where the mains water enters my house. My house is set well back from the road - about 250 ft - so should there be a leak in the supply pipe under my land it will not show up on my meter.

Severn Trent checked it conformed to regulations when installed. I expect that if it were fitted in recent times it would be at the entrance to my drive.

Incidentally had I not had a meter fitted and was still assessed on Rateable Value I would be paying £1,190 pa about £760 more than I pay on a meter.

derrick

oldwiring wrote:

I am allowed to read n=my gas and electricty meter but undersatnd that I am not permitted to read the water meter for myself. Is that fact? I know it might be difficult if one hasn;t a key to opend the cover in the road where it is located.

If you don't know you can't control or verify sated usage.

I had a water meter installed in my kitchen,(United Utilities), about 18 months ago and as Cardew, if no one in then a card is left and I can phone the reading in.

paul_h

Cardew wrote:

Incidentally had I not had a meter fitted and was still assessed on Rateable Value I would be paying £1,190 pa about £760 more than I pay on a meter.

Cardew Towers must be a fair sized property!

Don't forget that RVs used to calculate water bills were fixed in 1989...

Notional values are applied to properties built since 1990.

According to Ofwat, the average annual household bill for water and sewerage utilities in 2004-05 in England and Wales is £249 (£117 for water utilities and £132 for sewerage) and the average bill in Scotland is £272.

Cardew

paul_h wrote:

Cardew Towers must be a fair sized property!

Don't forget that RVs used to calculate water bills were fixed in 1989...

Notional values are applied to properties built since 1990.

According to Ofwat, the average annual household bill for water and sewerage utilities in 2004-05 in England and Wales is £249 (£117 for water utilities and £132 for sewerage) and the average bill in Scotland is £272.

I had my house built in 1988. Because it was new, with all mod-cons,(and I have a detached(older) cottage that is included in the assessment) it was given a high RV of £700.

The stupidity of the Rateable Value assessment scheme at that time was that it discriminated against(then) modern properties. The RV was based on the notional rent it would attract.

Before having my house built I looked at some huge 'mansions' that were twice the size of my house, with acres more land, and yet their RV was only a fraction of mine. Some of these were unmodernised but some were modernised.

I saw a beautiful farmhouse that had an RV of less than £100!(something to do with being assessed for agricultural use) After 1990 that farmhouse got the same Council tax Band H as mine, but retained its low RV for water charge purposes. Whoever now owns it would be crazy to have fitted a meter because his RV assessed charges would be about £150 regardless of how much water they use.

Obviously I changed to a meter as soon as I could in about 1990.

paul_h

Cardew wrote:

I saw a beautiful farmhouse that had an RV of less than £100!(something to do with being assessed for agricultural use) After 1990 that farmhouse got the same Council tax Band H as mine, but retained its low RV for water charge purposes. Whoever now owns it would be crazy to have fitted a meter because his RV assessed charges would be about £150 regardless of how much water they use.

Obviously I changed to a meter as soon as I could in about 1990.

I don't blame you with a RV of £700!

I'm one one of those with an older house and low RV... I suspect with two small children I might be substantially worse off when the compulsory water meters finally come - I can hear them sharpening their knives as we speak... _pale_

shelly

oldwiring wrote:

I am allowed to read n=my gas and electricty meter but undersatnd that I am not permitted to read the water meter for myself. Is that fact? I know it might be difficult if one hasn;t a key to opend the cover in the road where it is located.

If you don't know you can't control or verify sated usage.

Our meter is in the pavement outside our house and hubby checks it now and then to confirm a) its been read properly by the water co when we get a bill and b) to see if we are better off on the meter as our year is up soon and we need to know whether to stay on meter or go back to set bills.

calleyw

oldwiring wrote:

I am allowed to read n=my gas and electricty meter but undersatnd that I am not permitted to read the water meter for myself. Is that fact? I know it might be difficult if one hasn;t a key to opend the cover in the road where it is located.

If you don't know you can't control or verify sated usage.

Who told you that. Mine like a previous poster is out in the pavement outside my front gate.

Once a month my husband get a screw driver to flip open the cover and gets down on his hands and knees with a torch and reads the meter.

We do this so that know roughly what the bill should be. And if there is a sudden jump in usage we will know.

At the moment with two of us in the house we use about 3.5 cubic meters a month. Mind you this month will be higher as I am spring cleaning so all curtains and sofa/chair covers are being stripped and being washed.

You must be allowed to do it as they wanted us to give them the meter readings when we moved in. And we could hardly do that if we needed a special key to open the meter cover.

Yours

Calley

oldwiring

calleyw wrote:

Who told you that.

Calley

I asked my water co amd was told that verbally.

calleyw

oldwiring wrote:

I asked my water co amd was told that verbally.

That makes no sense how can you tell if you have a leak.

Ours is just a little round flap in the ground. No special key to open it.

I would ring them again and talk to them and tell them that you want to be able to read your meter. As how can you tell if you a leak.

So how did you give them a meter reading when you moved in?

I don't know what to say I am rather shocked by that. Who is your water company. I would make a complaint about it.

I am not sure what else to say. Because I like most people would assume that the meter is going to be in the road/pavement rather than in the house. So it would obvious that I going to have to open the flap to read it.

Yours


Calley

oldwiring

calleyw. When we moced in water was charged on RV but house moves attracted a compiusory change to meter. There was no need IMO to takw a reading then and, in fact, the usage has been constant +/- 10% since our arrival in 06/02.Against an RV charge we save about £80, despite our usage being 2.5x more than you satate in an earlier post. We must be water profligates, but then being retired we are at home more than a lot of folk.

The funny thing is that I visited the co's website to see what the 06/7 charge rates would be so I can adjust my DD ( I like to be in control.) Surprise, there is now a facility to submit customer readings and a special key will be supplied on request FOC!
I think I will apply.