Assessed water charges

gem4

The meter was fitted in error on a joint supply in the pavement so has had to be taken out, no charges are being made for the reading on the meter thankfully.

The meter cant go inside the house so they have put me down for assessed charges. I had a look in my South Staffs water booklet and for a terraced house or flat its £94.
I'm just a bit puzzled as to how they reach the assessment figure as it states its based on the property and not the amount of people.

I dont live in a flat and the house is only terraced by virtue of it being in a row of three otherwise it would be almost like a 3 bedroomed semi with just myself and daughter in it. However we are low users which is why I wanted a meter in the first place.

Does anyone know what questions they ask you in order to make the assessment, assuming here that they do ask questions and not just take a standard figure?

Scarlett1

I live in a 2 bed terraced and my water charges are £100 per year, and £180 for sewage the combined charges are the same monthly as my gas and electricity :rolleyes:

Mikeyorks

gem4 wrote:

Does anyone know what questions they ask you in order to make the assessment, assuming here that they do ask questions and not just take a standard figure?

Looking at the Yorks Water site - it appears to be a standard figure. Theirs range from £149 (Detached)/ £126 (Semi) and £111 (other). But that is only water supply - I suspect there must be an assessed add-on for sewerage. Otherwise I'm opting for 'assessed' over my meter, which is running around £250pa (was £560 on rateable)! And there's only 2 of us (but the wife's not careful!)

The logic for 'assessing' is suggested as where the cost of meter installation is unreasonable. And the prime example given for that is ... having to divide a shared supply pipe:rolleyes: Something you'll recognise?

Personally I think they're stretching it a bit by suggesting your's is difficult -'as they have to get through a gate'? Ours fit internally as standard - it goes just after the stopcock, so normally just tucks under the sink. And I 'phone the reading in - if I'm not at home when the reader calls. And your previous thread indicates you've passed the meter reader proficiency test?

PS Just found the 'assessed' sewerage add-on (it's a 62 page PDF !!) which is £157 / £133 /£119 - to add in the same order as above. Giving a total of £306 (Detached) / £259 (Semi) / 230 (Other). So - I'll keep the meter. And you might be better off pushing that line? Particularly as there must be a further (smaller) add-on for surface water, that I've not noticed.

Cardew

From your previous thread the average cost for 2 people for Water and Sewage would be 117 cu mtrs @£1.50(73p + 77p) = £175 + standing charges so approx £200 pa.

I would look at what they intend to charge you and take it from there.

I had a look in my South Staffs water booklet and for a terraced house or flat its £94. I'm just a bit puzzled as to how they reach the assessment figure as it states its based on the property and not the amount of people.

Prior to the introduction of water metering in 1989, water charges were based on the Rateable Value(RV) of the property. The RV was largely based on the size, and value of the property and not on the occupancy. Assessed charges are presumably based on that principle.

Wyndham

Mikeyorks wrote:

Personally I think they're stretching it a bit by suggesting your's is difficult -'as they have to get through a gate'? Ours fit internally as standard - it goes just after the stopcock, so normally just tucks under the sink. And I 'phone the reading in - if I'm not at home when the reader calls.

They put mine in the garage, which is of course locked most of the time. It's new (that's the meter, not the garage), so I haven't had it read yet, but I assume I can phone the reading through if I need to like I do with gas and electric.

gem4 - ask them again what difference the gate makes, because I think you WOULD be better off with a meter. Given our figures for the first month or so, I think we've almost halved the bill.