im confused!!

candygirl

I had a water meter fitted on july 7th, prior to that i'd been paying dd at about £28 a month, and was up to date with all my payments.I have just recieved a bill for £56.88!!any idea why?ive tried ringing the water board but am waiting for a call back!!

Cardew

A dd payment doesn't mean it covers your bill.

If you read through this forum - mainly gas and electricity - you will find that some people pay their DD and find themselves £hundreds in debt and others find themselves in credit.

Most firms re-assess the DD payment annually to take account of increases in tariff or increased/decreased consumption. Water charges increased wef 01 April and some firms(Severn Trent for one) have just sent out a bills

Incidentally if you are on a DD a bill is often sent to you "for information only"(look on last page) . This doesn't mean you are required to pay it, but it just shows you the current balance on your account.

Wyndham

It does of course depend how much water you've used, but I'm sure you realised that!

They will look at how much water they think you are going to use - looking at the number of people in the house, and how many times you said you flushed the toilet etc (I remember being asked that as part of the process to help me decide if I should have a water meter, but I can't recall if the questions came from the water company or not). It could be that you are one of the group of people for whom a water meter will actually cost more, not less?

Check the meter, see how much the reading is. You could have a leak somewhere (turn all water off then look to see if the meter is moving to check). Even a dripping tap can use phenominal amounts of water and you may not even notice it.

However, after saying all that, from 7th July to now isn't very long, so it's maybe more likely to be either an error, or a 'last bill' for your pre-water meter time where you were maybe slightly in arrears despite the direct debit.

candygirl

Wyndham wrote:

It does of course depend how much water you've used, but I'm sure you realised that!

They will look at how much water they think you are going to use - looking at the number of people in the house, and how many times you said you flushed the toilet etc (I remember being asked that as part of the process to help me decide if I should have a water meter, but I can't recall if the questions came from the water company or not). It could be that you are one of the group of people for whom a water meter will actually cost more, not less?

Check the meter, see how much the reading is. You could have a leak somewhere (turn all water off then look to see if the meter is moving to check). Even a dripping tap can use phenominal amounts of water and you may not even notice it.

However, after saying all that, from 7th July to now isn't very long, so it's maybe more likely to be either an error, or a 'last bill' for your pre-water meter time where you were maybe slightly in arrears despite the direct debit.

no i wasn't in arrears and theres no way from july 7th to now could be that much anyway!!i have tried ringing but am still waiting for a call back:mad:

Cardew

candygirl wrote:

no i wasn't in arrears and theres no way from july 7th to now could be that much anyway!!i have tried ringing but am still waiting for a call back:mad:

How do you know you were not in arrears? That doesn't mean up to date with your £28 DD

Are you saying that you had a bill on July 7th telling you that your account balance was zero. That is the only way you would know that you were not in arrears.

If you let us know what the detail is on your latest bill we can perhaps advise further. However I will bet you a virtual pint that you were in arrears .

candygirl

Cardew wrote:

How do you know you were not in arrears? That doesn't mean up to date with your £28 DD

Are you saying that you had a bill on July 7th telling you that your account balance was zero. That is the only way you would know that you were not in arrears.

If you let us know what the detail is on your latest bill we can perhaps advise further. However I will bet you a virtual pint that you were in arrears .

how could i have been in arrrears if i'd paid all my monthly dds up to the 7th july when i had the meter installed?i always pay up on time!!i'll hopefully get through on the phone tomorrow anyway!!

Cardew

candygirl wrote:

how could i have been in arrrears if i'd paid all my monthly dds up to the 7th july when i had the meter installed?i always pay up on time!!i'll hopefully get through on the phone tomorrow anyway!!

I thought I explained this earlier. A DD is not like paying a bill in full. It is an estimated payment, and that estimate is almost always wrong. By 'arrears' we are saying owe them money, or having a debit balance.

The cost of water and sewerage has increased a huge amount recently. Your charges per month could have totalled, say, £40 a month and the water company were only taking £28 a month from you by DD. Thus you were building up a debt of £12 a month.

If you pay your gas/electricity by DD it is exactly the same. That is not just for as you everyone in the country who pays for their gas, electricity and water by DD will be paying too much or too little and will be in credit or debit.

Normally at the end of a 12 month period they look at your charges and adjust your DD to a revised figure.

candygirl

no i had a fixed amount divided between 10 payments before i got my meter!!like i said im ringing tomorrow and will report back when ive spoken to them.thanks anyway:beer:

Cardew

candygirl wrote:

no i had a fixed amount divided between 10 payments before i got my meter!!like i said im ringing tomorrow and will report back when ive spoken to them.thanks anyway:beer:

I will try once more!

Your fixed amount on a DD is exactly the point I was making. They were to take 10 payments of £28 before you got your meter. That was because they estimated that your charges would be £280.

However that is not the same as a bill for £280. They can increase the charges at any time after they have fixed your DD at £28 and you have to pay those increased charges they make for the supply of your water.

Well they did put up your water charges( and for everyone else in the country) your £28 now did not cover those charges so you have built up a debt.

Your latest bill is really is nothing to do with the amount of water you have used in 2 weeks.

candygirl

Phew I finally got throught to them, today and they had made a mistake.I am actually £9.75 in credit , the £58.88 was a mistake due to me being on a PAYMENT PLAN!!yipee i don't owe them anything!!:beer: :beer:

oldwiring

My water co includes the shtanding charge in advance and usage is claculated in arrears. Also because the readings are not laways done that promptly getting a true figure, as far as is possible is no that easy. Here is what I mean from my own bills

date of bill 04/05/2006 date meter read 24/4/06

Bal b/fwd 19.39
apportioned usage
12/10/2005
to 31/3/06 38.39
01/04/2006
to24/4/06 5.25
stg chge
01/04/2006
to 30/9/06 10.50
Total charges 73.53
Payments made -61.70
Amount o/s per bill. 11.83

Adjustments to give
true amount o/s
at 31/3/06
deduct stg charge -10.50
deduct usage
1/4/ to24/4 -5.25
add back payts
after 31/3 6.70
Total of adjustments -9.05
Amount o/s oer bill b/dwn 11.83
true amount o/s
at 31/3/06 2.78