elderly mum's water bill ridiculous!!

wilkies5

Over the last three years my mum's water usage, per quarter, has been between 8 and 12 cubic meters: resulting in a monthly dd of £9 per month. She has now received a quarterly bill stating her usage has been 30 cubic meters and Anglian Water are insisting on putting up her dd to £68 a month to pay off a bill of £244!

Mum's circumstances have not changed. She lives alone and very frugally. I went round to turn off the stopcock and read the meter. Two hours later I read it again and it had not changed; indicating there wasn't a leak between the meter and the house.

Please could you give any advice as to what my mum does now? She is baffled but also very worried about how to pay this high, unexplained bill.

Cardew

Check if previous bills have been based on estimated meter readings; denoted by an (E)

It could simply be a 'catch-up' bill. i.e. previous meter readings being under-estimated, and this based on an actual reading.

Bear in mind that the average water consumptionis approx 55 to 60 cubic metres a year.

McKneff

Is it possible to pay the bill in full of £244 and then she could go onto a more realistic say £20 a month.

deanos

Standing charges work out £112 for a year + water usage , probably been underpaying and as mentioned a catch up bill as £9 is not enough to cover the water usage

If she was on a so low tarriff with no standing charges 48 cubes is around £18 a month based on the consumption you mention

Your mum really needs to speak to them

Gothicfairy

Sounds like she has been under billed. What does her meter readings work out at ?

BonitaG

You should also check for a leak in the house. I.e. when no water is taken in the house, go to the meter and check whether it is running. If the leak is somewhere under the floorboards in the kitchen or under the bath tub, you will not necessarily notice any dampness for a long time.
You could also ask for a water meter accuracy test, but they water company might charge you for that.

Cardew

The commonest form of internal 'leak' is a faulty cistern; so water runs (silently) into the toilet bowl.

wilkies5

Mum wrote to Anglian Water and they couldn't explain the bill either and gave her the option of using their 'wastage allowance' facility!! This is like a Get out of Jail Free card (those of you who play Monopoly!) which allows users to wipe out an erroneous/unexplained bill. They stated she " can only use this once" - rather bizarrely - as there is no reasonable explanation for the sudden increase in usage. We had already checked for leaks by doing a meter reading then turning off the stopcock in the house and 5 hours later doing another reading which showed NO meter movement at all. So Anglian Water have 'allowed' this to be written off, as such. They have, strangely, increased her dd to £11 a month (from £9). She is perfectly happy with this outcome!!

SO, MONEY-SAVERS, IF YOU HAVE A HIGH WATER BILL WHICH YOU CAN'T EXPAIN, ANGLIAN WATER MAY OFFER YOU THIS WASTAGE ALLOWANCE TOO

blossomhill_2

It may seem ridiculous to have to check but are you sure it is actually metering her property, not someone else's?

We lived in a new flat and it only came to light when the next door flat was empty that we were actually connected up to each other's meters - our useage was nil when the property was empty but the empty flat was using gallons!

wilkies5

Yes, Mum got Anglian Water to check her neighbours (both sides) and their bills were in line with family usage. Quite weird that this was all done on the phone...within a relatively short time....but resulted in this wastage allowance being offered.

Thanks for your reply

blossomhill_2

Thought it was worth a mention, maybe it's not that unusual but I found it bizarre!