they will not give us water meters

dudeney172

i live in brighton in a block of flats for the over 50's, some single and some couples. but the water company will not give us water meters... some use their washing machines all the time, but i only use mine a couple of times a week, and take showers not baths.... we are demarding meters, but have hit a big brick wall.... and i am being charged 25 pounds a month. would rather use public lavatories and showers at the swimming pool than pay all this, and we still pay it when it's not being used, we dont pay for the eleltricity and phone when we dont use them......most ae on pensions or benifits, but the water compnay dont take this into account

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

If you formally apply to the Water Company for a meter, they must either fit a meter or give you an assessed charge if a meter cannot be fitted.(often the case in flats)

Or is the £25 an assessed charge?

worbikeman

I live in a block of flats and asked for a meter but they wouldn't do it on account of not enough room to fit it between the communal supply and the wall to my property. The assessed charge is £21.89 pcm which I cant reduce by any means - so I just use as much water as I want. What else would you do? They're gonna fix the price however much I use.

Cardew

worbikeman wrote: »

I live in a block of flats and asked for a meter but they wouldn't do it on account of not enough room to fit it between the communal supply and the wall to my property. The assessed charge is £21.89 pcm which I cant reduce by any means - so I just use as much water as I want. What else would you do? They're gonna fix the price however much I use.

Well what else can they do?

£21.89 pcm is approx £260 pa.

The average water bill in UK is around £360 pa.

worbikeman

Cardew wrote: »

Well what else can they do?

£21.89 pcm is approx £260 pa.

The average water bill in UK is around £360 pa.

The point is I am charged an unchallengable flat rate (which would be less if I were metered). Average bill £360 is for a family of 4, whereas I live alone and am expected to contribute as if 2,3,4 or more people lived here. It hardly encourages me to use less. And what happens when profits aren''t high enough and they decide to double the charge? (don't say it would never happen). If the water co. thought metering would yield them a higher return they'd find a way to install one in a flash! I'll be interested to see what happens if/when it gets made compulsory.

Cardew

worbikeman wrote: »

The point is I am charged an unchallengable flat rate (which would be less if I were metered). Average bill £360 is for a family of 4, whereas I live alone and am expected to contribute as if 2,3,4 or more people lived here. It hardly encourages me to use less. And what happens when profits aren''t high enough and they decide to double the charge? (don't say it would never happen). If the water co. thought metering would yield them a higher return they'd find a way to install one in a flash! I'll be interested to see what happens if/when it gets made compulsory.

Let us deal with the last issue first because you clearly do not understand the way water companies raise revenue.

It doesn't matter to the water companies if you are charged £100 on an assessed charge, or £600.

The profit they are allowed to make is tightly governed and controlled by the Regulator(ofwat). So if, hypothetically, they charged you a nominal £5 pa as a single occupant instead of £260, then that shortfall would be raised by charging all other a little extra.

So to make that absolutely clear, your water company is allowed to make £x million profit after all allowable expenses.

In any system like that, there will be winners and losers! Some people on very low Rateable Value properties with 10 kids are big time winners. You seem to be a loser.

No matter how the companies structure their charges there will always be winners and losers, there simply is not a 'one size fits all' solution.

Fire_Fox

worbikeman wrote: »

The point is I am charged an unchallengable flat rate (which would be less if I were metered). Average bill £360 is for a family of 4, whereas I live alone and am expected to contribute as if 2,3,4 or more people lived here. It hardly encourages me to use less. And what happens when profits aren''t high enough and they decide to double the charge? (don't say it would never happen). If the water co. thought metering would yield them a higher return they'd find a way to install one in a flash! I'll be interested to see what happens if/when it gets made compulsory.

Your bill honestly wouldn't be that much less with a meter, and the assessed charge will have taken into consideration the number of occupants. Ours is £20 a month for two adults BUT I shower at work almost all of the time, we are classed as low users AND this is Yorkshire Water which is cheaper than many. Don't forget part of any bill is the standing charge/ surface water drainage, it isn't all composed of metered usage.

McKneff

If you had a meter, it probabl wouldnt be any less than what youre paying,

all the other multiple occupancy flats water meter bills would rise,thats all.

The other tennants, if they and you are on an assessed charge and more than one is in the flat will be more than yours anyway because it is assessed on how many occupants there are.