Very very high water rates

liz09

Hi,

I just moved flat. There (2 miles down the road) my water rates were £220 a year. Apparently now (in my admittedly slightly larger flat)they're £452. I expected them to go up but 1 and a half years ago I lived in a 3 bedroomed semi in the same village and they were around £250. I questioned Thames who told me the rates have only gone up 4% and that the rateable value must be more than the 3 bed semi.

I'm confused in council tax terms I'm band B (previous house was D) and different in cost is around £120,000 - I now live in the less desireable end of the village.

Apparently they can't investigate rateable values as they are set by the council, but this just seems wrong.

CAn anyone throw any light.

Cheers
Liz

deanos

As you are in a flat ask one of your neighbours how much they are paying

pickledtink

Heartfelt sympathy. I've been fighting this one for 15 years!
My 2 bedroom, one bathroom flat was rated as 'luxury' I was told ( it's not) so my water rates are double that of someone who lives in a huge 6 bedroom, 4 bathroom house in the desirable Old Town area.
I now pay a reasonable assessed charge but for years they stuck me with huge bills which to this day I am having to pay off.

Cardew

The Rateable Value of a property is nothing at all to do with Council Tax banding. The only time an RV is used is for water charges.

The Rateable Value of a property was always a nonsense. It was notionally based on the rental the property would command. In practice it gave new properties much higher RVs than older properties and some huge old farmhouses very small RVs while modern little semis had a much higher RV.

In 1989 it became compulsory to have a meter on new properties(with a few exceptions)

If you cannot have a meter fitted ask for an assessed charge.

thor

pickledtink wrote:

I now pay a reasonable assessed charge but for years they stuck me with huge bills which to this day I am having to pay off.

How did you manage this? I have tried for years to point out how the ridicuolusly high rv of my house was unjust and that my water rates were unfairly too high but my water authority will not budge. They know when they are on to agood thing. Any tips I could use to get them to act otherwise?

pickledtink

thor wrote:

How did you manage this? I have tried for years to point out how the ridicuolusly high rv of my house was unjust and that my water rates were unfairly too high but my water authority will not budge. They know when they are on to agood thing. Any tips I could use to get them to act otherwise?

It was a long horrible fight. I just persisted in writing to them and argueing the toss with all and sundry. One person I spoke to admitted that my water rates if metered would be about £150-£170 per year ( this was about 10 years ago). They were charging me £370 or thereabouts at the time. My argument thereafter was that they could not therefore justify the charge as their representative had confessed that it was way in excess of my actual usage and in fact an unrealistic made up figure which they had no right to take. I could not afford their £200 fee for a water meter and pointed out that no other utility provider charges for meters. I initially set up a drect debit for £15.00 per month so they couldn't claim I was paying nothing.
eventualy they decided to charge me the assessed rate of £170.00 which they put up by a precentage yearly. I reluctantly agreed to pay extra on DD to pay off the thousands they claim I owe them for the years before they changed it. I pay £25.00 per month on DD some of which goes to pay off that 'debt' which frankly still makes my blood boil.
Put everything in writing and periodically demand to see 'proof' that you owe this and question it. I cannot see how it's legal for them to charge me more than double for water because I have a sea view and live in a listed building. It doesn't mean I wash more!
Ask how much your yearly charge would be if you were metered for starters.
It gives you a figure to argue from.
Good luck.

Cardew

[QUOTE=pickledtink I cannot see how it's legal for them to charge me more than double for water because I have a sea view and live in a listed building. It doesn't mean I wash more!
[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately it is legal for them to charge according to Rateable Value if you don't have a meter.

They normally will only give an assessed charge if it is impractical to fit a meter.

Your sea view and listed building would have doubtless given your property a high RV and highlights the stupidity of basing water and sewerage charges on that RV.

My house had a RV of £700 and had I not changed to a meter I would be paying £1,190 pa instead of the(approx) £400 I will pay this year.

pickledtink

Cardew wrote:

Unfortunately it is legal for them to charge according to Rateable Value if you don't have a meter.

They normally will only give an assessed charge if it is impractical to fit a meter.

Your sea view and listed building would have doubtless given your property a high RV and highlights the stupidity of basing water and sewerage charges on that RV.

My house had a RV of £700 and had I not changed to a meter I would be paying £1,190 pa instead of the(approx) £400 I will pay this year.

Quite.

I did actually point out at the time that my then 8 year old son was virtually allergic to water ( particularly in the presence of soap) and had very little to do with it.
Legal or not it shouldn't be and I did eventually get an assessed charge from them but everyone should. There is no sense to the RV method at all.

Crabman

But if they offer fitted meters for free then I have to stick with the RV?