Water Bills questions and comment

Obliqua

Hi Cardew thanks for your reply

Basically SSE have us over a barrel. We have been in the property 20 yrs. We dont particularly want a meter. The water co are forcing us to have an assessment as they have increased our yearly bill from £189 to £389 as of today as we have not allowed them to assess our property for a meter. That's outrageous but they say they can do it!

If & we fully believe to the case they cannot fit a meter our bill will be £320 from now until they assess the 2013 bill, because they will base our water usage from now on us having a 3 bedroom property NOT the current rateable value of the property.

SSE state they can do this now & not wait until next year when our new bill is due.

We cannot find anything backing up SSE that rateable value will no longer be used for existing customers.

Can they just do this?

Cardew

The Rateable Value(RV) system of collecting 'local taxes' gave way to the 'Poll Tax' and later the Council tax. The Water Privatisation Act introduced compulsory meters for all houses built after April 1990 and not the defunct RV. However because it would have meant a big increase in charges for some properties, occupants were allowed to stay on charges based on RV until there was a change of occupant. It was only ever intended as a 'stop gap' measure.

So the first thing to say is that they could, and indeed should, have attempted to fit a meter 20 years ago when you moved in. The Water Privatisation Act gave them that power, but like many of the companies they just didn't bother.

The reason for this non-compliance with the Act lies in the way water companies are financed. They are allowed by ofwat to raise £xxxmillion revenue and make £yyymillion profit. So because you, and many thousands of others were paying low charges, they simply increased charges for other customers to raise the permitted revenue.

As said above I cannot see where a figure of £389 or £320 comes in as it is not on the list of assessed charges in the link I gave. Also the highest assessed charge for a 3 bed is £290

Anyway personally I cannot see that it is 'outrageous' that a water company would want to charge you on the basis of how much water you have used - as laid down by an Act of Parliament. Eventually metering(or assessed) will be the basis for charging everyone; and it seems to me quite a fair principle.

You could argue that you and countless thousands of others have paid very low charges for 20 years and metered customers have paid extra to compensate.

pencakes26

Hi all, just a quick question.

I have been living in my friends 2 bed flat on my own for just less than 3 months.

All the bills are still in her name (because basically Im housesitting), but I am paying them, as I am the one using the place. So far it has been fine, but she has just received a bill for £213:eek: for 10th August to 17th October. Now I know I like having a bath, but for one person who works full time and doesnt have a great deal of washing etc to do, does that not seem a crazy ridiculous amount?!

I paide around £22 a month in my old place and that was with two people using the water...

I havent seen a copy of the bill yet (as she just text me) but it doesnt look like an estimated bill apparently.

I dont know who the water provider is but Im assuming its Thames Water as I live in London.

Any ideas?!

Cardew

Well it will be Thames water.

You haven't mentioned if the flat is metered??

Assuming it is metered, it is possibly a 'catch up' bill. i.e. the previous bill(ending 10 Aug) was based on an under-estimated meter reading, and this on an actual meter reading.

iliketrilobites

I'm with Southern Water, and they've just sent me a bill of 285 pounds for 6 months. Problem is, I live in a one person tiny studio flat, and I barely live here more than 3 days a week.

I think they're charging me for the small bar below me, as the owner has warned me it happened to the previous tenant. I've already had the company out to check the meter when I first moved in.

What exactly can I do?

bigdaftkid

I moved from a 3 bed house in which I lived alone and which had a water meter. I was paying on average £87 per 6 months and was happy. I moved into a 1 bed flat in november which has no meter. I asked to have one installed and a man came out to check if it was possible. he said it was not looking good as it appears at first sight that my flat feeds the one above me. I dont know my neighbours so dont know if they have meters. I have heard nothing since so don't know if I can have one or not. someone said if not you can get single persons discount is this true? does anyone have a landline number for United utilities as I have only got a mobile so would cost dear to ring them?

PW_26

Sorry if this has already been asked but is there a way to question your chargeable rate?

My block of flats was built in the 90's so I don't know what Thames Water based it on because the last valuations were in 1990 weren't they?

My friend lives around the corner from me in a two bed flat and her bill is half of mine. I live in a 1 bed flat. Neither of us has a meter.

I understand the chargeable rate is not based on the size of the property, so I wouldn't mind if my bill was slighty higher than hers but double seems way too much.

If there is no valuation of my flat from 1990 (because it wasn't built yet), have Thames Water just plucked a number out of the sky for my chargeable rate?

Also my bill for a previous one bed flat was half what I'm being charged now. It just seems that the chargeable rate is absolutely nonsense and there is nothing you can do about it.

Is it worth me writing to Thames Water?

WeeLes

Hi

I run a small B&B from my house and have just received a bill from Business Stream? I live in Scotland so my water is covered in my rates, is this a new thing to have a water charged because I rent out a few rooms?

I would have at least have thought an introduction of a policy change to be good.

Thanks

Cardew

bigdaftkid wrote: »

I moved from a 3 bed house in which I lived alone and which had a water meter. I was paying on average £87 per 6 months and was happy. I moved into a 1 bed flat in november which has no meter. I asked to have one installed and a man came out to check if it was possible. he said it was not looking good as it appears at first sight that my flat feeds the one above me. I dont know my neighbours so dont know if they have meters. I have heard nothing since so don't know if I can have one or not. someone said if not you can get single persons discount is this true? does anyone have a landline number for United utilities as I have only got a mobile so would cost dear to ring them?

If a meter cannot be fitted - which often happens in flats - you will be offered an assessed rate for a single person. This for 2013/14 will be £281.96

http://www.unitedutilities.com/Our-charges-2013-2014.aspx

3. Assessed charges - household where metering is impracticable
If you live in a household property and you have applied to have a meter fitted free of charge (including altered household premises) but a meter cannot be installed, an assessed charge is available, comprising of a fixed annual amount varying according to premises type except where only one person lives at the premises:
Type of premisesWaterSewerageTotalSingle person household£120.70£161.26£281.96

If you go on-line you can get them to ring you back

http://www.unitedutilities.com/contacts.aspx

Or try these:

01925 234000 0800 0567693

Cardew

PW_26 wrote: »

Sorry if this has already been asked but is there a way to question your chargeable rate?

My block of flats was built in the 90's so I don't know what Thames Water based it on because the last valuations were in 1990 weren't they?

My friend lives around the corner from me in a two bed flat and her bill is half of mine. I live in a 1 bed flat. Neither of us has a meter.

I understand the chargeable rate is not based on the size of the property, so I wouldn't mind if my bill was slighty higher than hers but double seems way too much.

If there is no valuation of my flat from 1990 (because it wasn't built yet), have Thames Water just plucked a number out of the sky for my chargeable rate?

Also my bill for a previous one bed flat was half what I'm being charged now. It just seems that the chargeable rate is absolutely nonsense and there is nothing you can do about it.

Is it worth me writing to Thames Water?

By 'Chargeable Rate' do you mean Rateable Value(RV)? This was the system of 'local taxes' prior to 1990 which then became 'The Poll Tax' and then the present Council Tax.

The last RV were allocated prior to April 1990 and were assessed by the Council not water companies. Thames Water and all other water companies were allowed to carry on using the RV as the basis of water charges for unmetered properties.

There is no way that the RV can be changed.

Post 1990 it was mandatory for all properties to have metered water(with a few exceptions) Generally - even in Flats - there would be individual meters, but some blocks had a single meter and the costs were collected from individual flats in a Service Charge or the Rent.

It is possible(but unlikely) that flats in your block are on assessed charges.

More detail from bill required - in particular what is meant by 'Chargeable rate'