A Letter from Anglian Water

bruceyb3

Hi.
I have just recieved a letter from Anglian Water informing me they are to increase my monthly DD amount by, what is for me, 33%. The letter does say how they arrived at the figure so as to cover the next 12 months usage in that they have "reassessed" my usage from my "previous consumption." But if they had and as my consumption has not altered by any where near 33%(perhaps around 2-3% according to my own meter readings and the ones on my account/last bill) and this letter says nothing about any meter readings taken recently then where oh where could they get that 33% increase from? My account by the way in May was everso slightly in credit and I have calculated by taking a reading and just increasing the tariff by 4%(not sure if the price of water/sewerage charge has gone up since May)I will be in credit still by the time of my next bill which they tell me will be on the 25th November.
Has anyone who is also with AW had a simliar letter? Also, how do other forum members reading this view this letter from AW? Thanks

t0rt0ise

So how much are they planning to put the price up in the next year?

bruceyb3

t0rt0ise wrote: »

So how much are they planning to put the price up in the next year?

Well, I will blush if I told you in terms of actual money....I have water saving devices around the home/garden so my actual DD amount is only...wait for it......£6 pcm....£72pa. They want to increase it to £8pcm/£96pa...thats a 33% increase. True, only £2 more each month/£24 over the next 12 months but why should it be increased at all? But my bigger thought was has any one else who is with AW(or any other water company I suppose) had such a letter as the one I described? I was thinking perhaps this is just AW getting as many people as they could to pay more each month(and far bigger increases than I in terms of actual money increase pcm)and hence increasing AW's cash flow/bank account and nothing really to do with a "reassessement" of "previous consumption." As you can see, the letter smells a bit fishy to me!

notbritishgas

Yes I received the same letter from AW, as did a friend of mine. I found it a bit strange as we are in the middle of a billing period, the last meter reading they took was in May, so why not increase the DD then?
Unfortunately I pay more than £6 per month :mad: the increase is from £29 to £32 per month.

Gothicfairy

The payment plans are reviewed every 11 months so to be honest the billing cycle is not really that important to the plan.
The payment plan will look at the amount of credit to date and the next bill date and work out how much you should be in credit by and how much you really are in credit by.
They will hope that there will be enough credit to cover the next bill and also cover any accrued days from the payment plan ended and the new one starting.
If the plan increases then there is not enough credit at this stage but it can be reviewed again if you give them a meter reading now and get them to check that the reading is in line and that the account is cleared with that reading.

energysavingexp

bruceyb3 wrote: »

Well, I will blush if I told you in terms of actual money....I have water saving devices around the home/garden so my actual DD amount is only...wait for it......£6 pcm....£72pa. They want to increase it to £8pcm/£96pa...thats a 33% increase. True, only £2 more each month/£24 over the next 12 months but why should it be increased at all? But my bigger thought was has any one else who is with AW(or any other water company I suppose) had such a letter as the one I described? I was thinking perhaps this is just AW getting as many people as they could to pay more each month(and far bigger increases than I in terms of actual money increase pcm)and hence increasing AW's cash flow/bank account and nothing really to do with a "reassessement" of "previous consumption." As you can see, the letter smells a bit fishy to me!

you say that you paid £72 per year what about standing charges

for water/waste water and surface water charges?

my standing charges alone are £115 per year

James123_2

Yes, I've just received the same letter. This is despite the fact that my consumption hasn't increased at all in the last 12 months. We use around 350 litres each day and try very hard to keep this down. My payments have increased from £40 to £47. OK, so any issues of overpayment will be dealt with in a review next June. However, it does sound as if Anglian Water are after some free working capital here. As for an annual bill of £72 - how does anyone manage that?

notbritishgas

energysavingexp wrote: »

you say that you paid £72 per year what about standing charges

for water/waste water and surface water charges?

my standing charges alone are £115 per year

You make a very good point.

AW standing charges were on my last bill dated May:
Water supply 7.65 pence per day
Sewerage 21.58 pence per day

That comes to £106 alone!! However I think AW do a special scheme for low users, whether that includes a standing charge I do not know.

Edit: Yes the SoLo tariff does not have a standing charge, but the water and sewerage charge is £4.052 per cubic metre so the OP uses just over 17 cu metres a year

dogshome

Payment by Direct Debit for metered water really isn't worth doing
Unlike Elec & Gas, there is no advantage of a discount and as brucyb3 has found, you at the mercy of the Water Co. as to the D/D amount and it's difficult dis-prove what consumption they want you to pay for

However, payng on receipt of the twice yearly bill has advantages, if the bill is Estimated you can phone in with the meter reading and get an accurate bill.
If there is a query on the bill, you can seek redress before you part with the money

bruceyb3

notbritishgas wrote: »

You make a very good point.

AW standing charges were on my last bill dated May:
Water supply 7.65 pence per day
Sewerage 21.58 pence per day

That comes to £106 alone!! However I think AW do a special scheme for low users, whether that includes a standing charge I do not know.

Edit: Yes the SoLo tariff does not have a standing charge, but the water and sewerage charge is £4.052 per cubic metre so the OP uses just over 17 cu metres a year

This is from my last bill in May this year:


Water supply Solow rate

Volume used
5m3 x 162.40p
£8.12

Volume used
3m3 x 174.26p
£5.22

Total water charge £13.34

Sewerage service Solow rate

Volume used (Foul & Surface)
(at 90% of water used)

4.50m3 x 254.15p

£11.43

Volume used (Foul & Surface)
(at 90% of water used)

2.70m3 x 266.26p
£7.18

Total sewerage charge£18.61

So, charges for Water supply and Sewerage was £31.95 for the 6 months. I use a little more over summer months and the cost of water went up by 4.1% 1/4/11.

RKH

The whole thing is a con, IMHO. I receive sewage from Anglian Water and water from Thames Water - Thames pass the meter readings on to Anglian. My June Bill raised my monthly payment from £22 to £28 - with a calculation on the bill which was, roughly, correct. The October letter attempted to put this up to £34, for no justifiable reason - there was no further meter reading, and no rate increase, so no excuse. When I phoned to query this they told me that they had made errors in their calculations in June (true - the figures don't actually add up!) so had to do this to put them "right" - when I pointed out that it was far from right, and that a correct calculation gave the original figure of £28, they reluctantly agreed to leave the amount unchanged (sidestepping the question of where they had plucked the £34 from in the first place). It was a fortnight until the next payment was due, and I was assured they would change it back...liars. A fortnight later, I was debited £34. I called again and was told that they didn't know why it hadn't been done but it would now be changed, however they were unable to refund the current payment - so I told them it breached the direct debit guarantee and got the bank to refund it.

As I said, I believe the whole thing is a con to extract additional money up front.