South west water meter issue!!

cookey5599

Hi, We currently live in the south west under south west water, we are on a shared main and have been told that unless we pay the £1000 to seperate the supply we will have to stay on a monthly bill which is currently £85!!! a month, there are only 2 of us in the house and we are on a low income and my husband is registered disabled, I estimate that a water meter bill would be no more than £20 a month at the most. We have approached south west water many times, we are now at the point where we can no lontger afford to pay and are considering just letting them take us to court to get our case across. Ha any one been here before, can anyone help or point us in the right direction?.

bluewire

If you are on a shared supply and are unable to have a meter installed because of this SWW should give you the option to pay an assessed charge. This will not be as cheap as a meter but will be less than what you currently pay.

if SWW do not help you with this complain to CCW or OFWAT. when you call SWW ask them to send you a "how to complain" leaflet.

Hope you get this sorted

Gothicfairy

Is it a joint supply or shared supply ?

Depending on how the supply is you might be able to have an internal meter or does your supply also feed the neighbours, in which case it would need to be split and that does come down to the homeowner as the water company only owns the pipes to your boundary and your meter not the pipes on your property or internal stop tap.

Unfortunately I don't think there is much grounds to complain as the water company are only following policy.
It might be worth though seeing if you can apply to their trust fund for help.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Mr parents are in a very similar situation to you with regards SWW - There is a shared mains coming into the downstairs flat, with the mains then also feeding an upstairs flat. Both parties want a water meter.
We are still waiting for SWW to send round an inspector, but after reading various forums and making phone calls to SWW, I suspect the same situation will apply. However, I have also been in contact with a plumber who has assessed the property, and from what I can ascertain, his charges will be almost half compared to SWW. The only thing he won't be able to do is the bit in the road, which is approx half a meter from the property boundary to the actual supply. I am hoping that SWW will pay for this bit as it is in their own interest to get everyone on meters.
Will update if/when more info becomes available.
HTH

diamond_dave

My Father in law is in a similiar situation and he has now had his usage assessed as a single person paying £30 a month alot more than a meter but less than rateable value. I am paying £92.00 a month with SW Water, so we've just had a meter fitted.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

Mr parents are in a very similar situation to you with regards SWW - There is a shared mains coming into the downstairs flat, with the mains then also feeding an upstairs flat. Both parties want a water meter.
We are still waiting for SWW to send round an inspector, but after reading various forums and making phone calls to SWW, I suspect the same situation will apply. However, I have also been in contact with a plumber who has assessed the property, and from what I can ascertain, his charges will be almost half compared to SWW. The only thing he won't be able to do is the bit in the road, which is approx half a meter from the property boundary to the actual supply. I am hoping that SWW will pay for this bit as it is in their own interest to get everyone on meters.
Will update if/when more info becomes available.
HTH

Hi, SWW came & inspected the property, together with a plumber. SWW will fit 2 x internal meters free of charge, the plumber will charge £800 to seperate the supply in the flats:eek:

tori.k

I would argue this as like dimond dave, we had my MIL put on to an assesed charge as she lives in flat with shared water supply, she pays £300 PA on a capped charge rather then the £800+, there was no issue with SWW over doing this.