Surface water/highway drainage

SavingSomeCoin

Hello All,

My water supplier is United Utilities. For my last address my annual bill was £255.96, just over £21 per month which was manageable. This is based on a 'Single Person' charge.

Now I have moved into a new flat and there is a water meter fitted. They initially has me paying just over £21 a month. In January they took a meter reading. When this done a new bill cam through the door for £158.56 (this is for 19th July 12th January), broken down as follows:

Payments received up until 2nd Dec £94.12 credit
New Charges> £158.68
Balance on this statement £64.56
Amount due this year £64.56

Now I made a payment in early January for just over £21. So this is be taken off. However I have been watching my water usage and now see my water meter moving a lot slower.

What I am concerned about is a new item on the bill,
'Surface water/highway drainage' and this cosrs £32.10 for six months :eek:. Now I have never seen this before on any of my old bills. I am also a single person living in the flat, so should this not be taken into consideration at a reduced rate?

Thankyou for the help in advance,
SavingSomeCoin :beer:

Cardew

There are several threads on surface water drainage which you should read.

The first thing you should check is that you should be paying that charge at all. Ask if other flats are paying in your building.

If you cannot claim relief from that charge*, it is a fixed charge of £66pa.

* The main reason for relief is that your surface water from gutters etc goes into a soakaway and not into the sewer system.