Water Bills questions and comment

JJ_Egan

He does not read the forum suggest you contact MSE .
Martin sold this site many years ago .

Cardew

silinks01 wrote: »

May be something for you Martin?

Welcome to the Forum.



I appreciate you are new to the forum, however this subject has been covered on MSE literally hundreds of times over the past 13 years and Martin has written a couple of articles; do a search for Surface Water Drainage.(SWD) This is an example:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76478556#Comment_76478556


A search will give you all the background.


It is pertinent to point out that the vast majority of property built over the past 30 years will have soakaways as that is the default planning permission condition.


Also the maximum rebate you will get in most cases is restricted to 6 years by Statute of Limitations.


Unfortunately The Water Act when introduced in the 1970's made charging for SWD the default position for the water companies as it was simply not practical to inspect some 20 million dwellings to check for soakaways, and that is still the position today.

frankdee

Advice please, I'm with Yorkshire Water and considering having a meter fitted, would this only effect the cost of water being used or can it reduce the total water & sewerage bill? the water element cost isn't too bad it's the sewerage charge thats really high on my bill.

Cardew

frankdee said:

Advice please, I'm with Yorkshire Water and considering having a meter fitted, would this only effect the cost of water being used or can it reduce the total water & sewerage bill? the water element cost isn't too bad it's the sewerage charge thats really high on my bill.

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A meter calculates both the water and sewerage charges. However if it will be cheaper for your property depends on the Rateable Value(RV) of your property.

Current prices for Yorkshire water are shown here: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/our-charges/customers-with-a-meter/

The average consumption is 55 cubic metres per person per year e.g. 3 persons in house will be 165 m3 a year - albeit many people use less than 55m3.

You can do a rough check by comparing what you pay on your unmetered tariff(RV)

Also if you get a meter and it is not cheaper you can revert back to your present charges(within 12 months)

Angie371

We have recently been lucky in getting our council tax band changed. Our property was listed as being a larger 3 bedroom from when it was built in 1930 instead of the smaller 2 bedroom that it is. Going from a Band B to a Band A. 

I contacted Severn Trent our water supplier about getting our water rates changed but they say they are unable to change them. They tell me they are based on the rateable value. Surely if a mistake was made then there should be a way to get this rectified. 

My parents live a few minutes walk away in a larger property and they are paying less than me. 

Severn Trent offered me a water meter but I don't want one until we have to. 

Any advice welcome. 

dmdrabble

I live in a mid terrace. Our water supplier is Affinity Water and our water pressure is woeful. We are on a shared supply between 5 terrace houses.

My wife filled out a request form for our own supply and I now have a confusing quote from Affinity Water for £5500. It doesn't show a breakdown to justify this cost.

Affinity mention 'self lay', which states you can choose an accredited contractor to do the work. How do you choose one and is this worth the effort and are they usually cheaper? 

My neighbour has her own supply, (I’m the last in line) = hers comes from the front of the street and into her house. This is a few feet from my front door, so don’t know why the cost is £5500 to T off the supply to my house.

If I ask to be metered, will Affinity be obliged to provide me with my own supply? Some advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Cardew

Angie371 said:

We have recently been lucky in getting our council tax band changed. Our property was listed as being a larger 3 bedroom from when it was built in 1930 instead of the smaller 2 bedroom that it is. Going from a Band B to a Band A. 

I contacted Severn Trent our water supplier about getting our water rates changed but they say they are unable to change them. They tell me they are based on the rateable value. Surely if a mistake was made then there should be a way to get this rectified. 

My parents live a few minutes walk away in a larger property and they are paying less than me. 

Severn Trent offered me a water meter but I don't want one until we have to. 

Any advice welcome. 

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This has come up many times. Rateable Value(RV) was abolished in 1990 as a means of collecting 'local taxes'. It was replaced by the Poll tax and then Council Tax. As a  concession the Water Act allowed the RV to be retained as a means of charging for water, although on change of owner can(and should) make fitting a meter compulsory.; albeit some water companies don't bother to enforce that provision.

The difference between Council Tax and RV is that Council Tax bands are based on based on the value of the property but RV is based on the notional rental value of the property. This RV was based on many factors other than size and value of property.

Anyway there is no way a council or water company can change the RV.

zaahn

I keep reading about water bill decreases (apparently around £17), but my bill has actually gone up by £20 this year! Is this right? I'm with Severn Trent and not on a meter, and as far as I can see i'm with one of the only companies to actually increase their rates in 2020 I also pay about £100 more than the 'average' for Severn Trent, but i've checked out prices for a water meter and the standard charge would actually cost more than I currently pay monthly, without even being charged for my consumption! Is there any other way to reduce my bill or am I just stuck paying for Severn Trents disgusting shareholder bonuses for life? 

JJ_Egan

Use less .

Any decrease is yet to start  as April is start date .

Standard charge based upon Rateable Value   or charges based upon a water meter .

How many in property and what size ??

russ1260

Hi all united utilities has been charging me for handling my rain water along with and in the same way as my sewage water when in fact the rain water has been directed through drainage channels to a pond.  United Utilities have repaid me the last 6 years of over charges and will not go back any further but I have been overpaying for 27 years, where do I stand o this issue?