HELP am i being conned???

chefmilly

Hi i would be grateful for any infomation that someone can give.
I am living with my partner and child of 16 months in a ground floor in a 2 bedroom flat with a communal garden out back. We have one bathroom with a toilet and a bath and a kitchen with sink and washing machine and thats it in Winchester.
Southern Water are charging us £492.99 a year it has gone from £34 per month to £41 per month. we asked to get a meter fitted but the can't generally put them in flats and ours was one of them. I asked my mum who lives 1 mile away in a 3 bedroom house and she is paying £35 per month this seems really odd to me.
So could anyone help with infomation on how to go about finding out if i am and fighting to get it reduced
Thanks alot Steve Miller

Tiger_greeneyes

Water companies charge for the amount of water you use, and not on the size of your property - which is why your mum gets charged less than you and your family.

airforce_beret

my understanding was that they only charge you for the water you use when on a meter. when not on a meter, they estimate how much it should cost for the number of people in the house and the size of the house/flat

we live in a 2 bed terrace and its £37 a month over 10 months, that obviously depends on your supplier though

Psykicpup

Have Southern Water actually beenout to do a survey? or is not being able to fit a meter hearsay so to speak... they can often be fitted in flats although some have to have 2 meters fitted -one in kitchen & one in Bathroom for instance. If they have surveyed they will automatically check to see if 'assessed ' charges would be cheaper for you & if so they will amend your bill accordingly
I have heard they are very busy & quite backlogged so it may take a while tho...

chefmilly

Yes they have been round to see if meter can be fitted and it can't due to lack of space which is pants. They did say it would be reassesed but it wouldn't reduce by much so i will just have to wait for the bill. It will probably still be alot more than what we will use.
Thanks for your help any further info is much appreciated

dollarjon

could you not fit a shower it will save you alot, since fitting a shower ours (metered 2 adults) has gone from £37 to £29 a month

teddyco

ChefMilly,

You should also check to make sure that you are not over paying on your 'surface water drainage'. My father-in-law lives in a flat that has a 'soak-away' that takes the water from the roof into the ground.
Southern Water doesn't make it easy for folks to determine if their properties are eligible for a 'surface water drainage' discount, and I had to work with my father-in-law to determine that his property indeed had a soak-away, file the appropriate forms, and then he received the discount.

I have also heard reports where Southern Water is not keeping account of which properties are eligible for 'surface water drainage' discounts when a family moves house.

New families are then responsible for re-filing for the 'surface water drainage' discount on properties that previously had the discount, and I think that's very sneaky.

It makes me wonder how many elderly folks are paying for something that they don't use? How would they possibly know if their roof water drained into a 'soak-away'? Shouldn't this be something that should have been determined many years ago?

olly300

Get back to Southern Water customer service department in writing. And refer them to this on the consumer council for water's website.

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.719

"If you cannot have a meter fitted you can ask your company to base your bill on an assessed charge. Some companies calculate an assessed charge based on the number of occupants, some use the type of property (flat/maisonette, semi-detached or detached) some use the number of bedrooms and some on the average household charge. You will need to compare the assessed charge with your current bill to decide if you will save money. Your water company will be able to give you more information. "

Ask them to reply to your letter in 20 days stating what that charge would be to bill you in that way. If they don't get back to you raise a complaint the consumer council for water. (http://www.ccwater.org.uk)

lapat

Tiger_greeneyes wrote: »

Water companies charge for the amount of water you use, and not on the size of your property - which is why your mum gets charged less than you and your family.

do you judge all your bills like that..?

lapat

chefmilly wrote: »

Yes they have been round to see if meter can be fitted and it can't due to lack of space which is pants. They did say it would be reassesed but it wouldn't reduce by much so i will just have to wait for the bill. It will probably still be alot more than what we will use.
Thanks for your help any further info is much appreciated

no no no get the bull by the horns and shout loud woman
they cannot refuse you a water meter and there are loads of ways of fitting them.it was just a probably a lazy surveyor

starrydarkangel

lapat wrote: »

no no no get the bull by the horns and shout loud woman
they cannot refuse you a water meter and there are loads of ways of fitting them.it was just a probably a lazy surveyor

their are many reason why they may not be able to fit a meter such as not enough pipe to fit the meter on or a joint supply(in which case if you did have a meter you could be charged for your neighbours useage too).


If you cant have a meter they should give you the option to be charged on asessed consumption which is based on the averge usage for your size of family or property, but sometimes it works out more.