Surface Water Charges & Flats

ayroman03

Hi All,

I've searched through the forum but cant find a specific thread dealing with flats and surface water charges.

I'm currently renting a 2 bed flat in a small group of flats (3 up, 2 across, ...think small grey council block style)


I'm trying to find out what the rules are regarding paying for surface water charges within a flat. My bill has come through with a 200 quid charge for just surface water. Surely they cannot charge every flat for surface water?

Any comments/experiences? :rotfl::(:rotfl:

macman

Metered or RV billing?

Cardew

Hi,
This has been brought up in a couple of threads, it is a complete nonsense that every occupant of, say, a 20 storey block of flats should pay a surface water charge.

Nobody to my knowledge has managed to get the charge waived/reduced on those grounds.

I would contact the Consumer Council for Water and ask their advice. http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

Gothicfairy

Everyone who is connected should pay SWD but £200 is just to much for a yearly domestic charge..In anything (even 3 bed detached house)
You should be paying on band 1 or A depending on the company and that charge is based on flats ( if they did not split the bill then someone would be paying for the whole property and it would be more as it would then be classed as a house or even commerical )
You should not be paying more then about £35 per year for a flat so either you have read the bill wrong or it is for a long period or as a commerical property.

ayroman03

I lived a flat not too different to the one I am in now, a was only charged a small fee as you described.

write http then .... dl.dropbox.com/u/9160629/water.jpg

I've included a quick pic of the relevant part of my bill. Is there something I am missing or is it time to re-phone STW?

Thanks

Cardew

ayroman03 wrote: »

I lived a flat not too different to the one I am in now, a was only charged a small fee as you described.

write http then .... dl.dropbox.com/u/9160629/water.jpg

I've included a quick pic of the relevant part of my bill. Is there something I am missing or is it time to re-phone STW?

Thanks

Yes you are possibly overpaying.

You have a Rateable Value(RV) of £242 and are paying the full unmeasured sewerage charge of 81.48p per £1RV. This means you are paying for surface water drainage(SWD) based on your RV.

Firstly you need to establish if you should be paying SWD at all.
If you shouldn't be paying SWD then you should only be paying 51.6p per £1RV a difference of 29.88p. So 242 x 29.88p = £72.31

Even if you are liable for SWD charges, you can elect to pay the 51.6p and pay a flat rate for SWD. This charge depends on the sort of property.
For a flat or Terraced house it is £28
A semi it is £56
Detached is £84

So unless you are in a detached property you can save.

However firstly check if you should pay any SWD - the default position is to make you pay.

Gothicfairy

Ahh , you are being charged on the RV rate
Which means the bill is broken up into clean water ie water supply on an RV of 242.00 and that is charged at 87.53 per pound of RV
and your used water (which is broken further into sewerage and SWD) on same RV 242.00 charged at 81.48 per pound
So 242 times 87.53 pence (water supply in to your flat) is : 211.82
242 times 81.48 pence is (water out of your flat including SWD): 197.18

You could apply for a meter as if you are alone it would more then likely work out much cheaper

ayroman03

Cardew wrote: »

If you shouldn't be paying SWD then you should only be paying 51.6p per £1RV a difference of 29.88p. So 242 x 29.88p = £72.31

.

Hi,

Can I ask where you got this value from? I lived in what was pretty much the same type/size of flat in Guildford and paid 30 quid total for the year for sewerage and surface water.

Cardew

ayroman03 wrote: »

Hi,

Can I ask where you got this value from? I lived in what was pretty much the same type/size of flat in Guildford and paid 30 quid total for the year for sewerage and surface water.

Are you sure about the £30 for both? were you metered?

If you look at the Severn Trent charges on the website there are 8 regions.

For your region you are being charged 81.48p per £1RV for sewerage - and that is shown on your bill.

That 81.48p is for full unmeasured sewerage(i.e. sewerage and Surface Water Drainage(SWD)) There is also a figure shown on the website of 51.6p per £1RV - this is for properties not charged for SWD.

The SWD element is 29.88p per £1RV(81.48p - 51.6p) so it is costing you 242 x 29.88p = £72.31 for SWD.

If you shouldn't be paying for SWD, you shouldn't be charged that £72.31. If you are liable for SWD charges you can elect to just pay a flat rate for a flat of £27.99pa

Norman_Castle

With stw I pay approx £30 per year for surface water drainage for a flat. My total metered bill is £130 per year. Without a meter my bill would be £300.

Cardew

Norman_Castle wrote: »

With stw I pay approx £30 per year for surface water drainage for a flat. My total metered bill is £130 per year. I would assume your £200 charge is wrong.

He is unmetered and charged on his RV. The £200 is for both sewerage and surface water drainage(SWD) The SWD element is £72.31

He can however elect to pay the same SWD charge as yourself(£27.99 for 2011/12) that is assuming he is liable for SWD charges.