Sorry if i sounds dumb but is this the norm with bills.

charliemaine1bee

Weve been in the property 2 years and ive just paid the bills as i thought was the norm.
We get bills from Severn trent for sewerage and water from anglian.Is this common practice?when we lived in North Yorkshire we paid Yorkshire water for both all in 1 bill and it was less than what we pay for just water here.
Having coffee with my friends yesterday i nearly choked when they all said they pay less than £40 a month for both together with 1 company.Im paying over £80 a month for both with 2 companies-thats rateable not on meters.Can i switch water suppliers?Ive been trying to cut back on bills and never realised we were paying so much more than others.Any help would be appreciated.thanks.

pinkteapot

First of all, in some areas you do have two water suppliers - one for water and one for sewerage. That's perfectly normal. Unlike gas/electricity, you can't change your water supplier (I don't think).

How many bedrooms does your house have and how many of you are there? Rateable bills are generally bad value unless your house is stuffed to the gills with people. They assume the house is completely full with everyone using lots of water in setting the rates.

I used to live in a 2-bed flat with separate water/sewerage charges. I think the total of the two was about £40 a month and there was no water meter.

Hubby and I moved to a larger house which fortunately had a meter. Our bills now total £20 a month!

From what your friends said, I suspect you'd be better off with a meter. Can you get one fitted? My flat was unsuitable for one so I couldn't get one. Phone your water company and ask about getting a meter.

See Martin's page below for more info:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/cut-water-bills

Gothicfairy

If you can't get a meter you can be placed onto assessed charges which are based on metered bills taken over a cross section of metered accounts.

macman

Since once a meter is fitted you can go back to RV billing at any time in the first 12m, it's no-brainer to try a meter, as it's free.
Split billing is perfectly normal if you are in a 'border' area.

amiehall

macman wrote: »

Since once a meter is fitted you can go back to RV billing at any time in the first 12m, it's no-brainer to try a meter, as it's free.
Split billing is perfectly normal if you are in a 'border' area.

I had an engineer out to look at my flat for a meter today and he said that this policy is not in place in my region (Southern) as the fitting of meters is now compulsory. I knew all parts of the region were to be covered by compulsory meters eventually but clearly this programme has not finished. Houses in my area are not yet being fitted with meters as standard.

I applied for a meter as I felt I would benefit, however, I was not aware that I wouldn't be able to change my mind if bills were high. Maybe this engineer was talking out of his **** however he seemed knowledgable and was very helpful in general. It's a moot point anyways as my flat is not suitable so I can save a merry £1.50 a month on an assessed charge.... great :rotfl:

macman

Meters can be disregarded as long as you request it within the 12m deadline. Hhowever the next occupier or tenant cannot switch back to RV billing once a meter has already been fitted.

alanfp

£960 p.a. is seriously high! Must be a v. big house you're in, or else there's a huge admin. mistake (oops, nearly wrote *%*&-up).

Good advice given above.

aeb_2

Mine was just over £800 for a 3 bed semi in a village near Leicester and that was three years ago before I moved.

I think it's more in South West but I'm metered now so not sure what the rates amount would have been. I also have stream so can get the odd bucket or two for free;) (car wash, mucky jobs, etc)

charliemaine1bee

Thanks for all the advice,am going to ring on monday about going onto a meter,it is a big house we rent but im really frugal as far as use of water,gas,elec etc goes so Meter seems the way forward i think.And as you say i can switch within 12 months if needed.
Can i go onto a Meter for sewerage?

amiehall

macman wrote: »

Meters can be disregarded as long as you request it within the 12m deadline. Hhowever the next occupier or tenant cannot switch back to RV billing once a meter has already been fitted.

I originally thought this but, after a bit of research online, I can see that the engineer is right. I couldn't change back at any time regardless of consumption.

This is from Southern Water website
"If you ask us to fit a meter, and you live in an area that is subject to our metering programme this year, you will not be able to go back to an unmetered charge at a later date. This is because the government has identified our water supply area as an area of serious water stress and has given us the power to meter all of our water supply customers by 2015. If you want to check when your home is due to be metered under our Universal Metering Programme, click here"

My home is scheduled for Spring 2013 according to their online tool.

deanos

As Anglian is your supplier for water they will arrange the meter and you will then get one bill, they pass the sewage part on your behalf if i recall correctly , you then get 2 years to switch back if you wish, but would then go back to paying 2 suppliers if you went back to paying on RV

If a meter cant be fitted the CSR will ask you some questions and this will give a consumption figure which your bills would be based on