Overcharged Water Bills

wanderlust20

Hi All, big fan of this site. I have just changed to a water meter and found that my bill is halved as a result from £51 down to £25.50. This is based on ACTUAL use and not as previously dictated by my water company. Does anyone know if I could claim back what appear to be overcharges from previous years. Just wondering!?.:)

macman

In a word, no. You weren't 'overcharged' in previous years-you were billed on your RV (i.e. unmetered), regardless of actual consumption. Meter savings cannot be applied retrospectively.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Had you found that with a meter you were paying, say £25 a month more and thus 'appear' to have been 'undercharged'(by your definition) for years would you expect to pay back the company?

As said above, you were not overcharged previously.

wanderlust20

Ok guys, I was just asking and did overlook that the charges were based on RV so am now satisfied. Thanks for your replies.

SunnyBunny12

Why has it taken so long for water companies to install water meters and charge people for what they use? The gas and electricity companies manage it.
















Newly built houses have had meters installed since 1990, therefore, water companies have had 24 years of statistics to realise that some households are paying far more than they should be. Surely they have a duty to their customers to do something about this, rather than just knowingly pocketing the profits? SE Water have just installed meters in our area - it took the workmen less than half an hour per property and they didn't even need to come into the house. I'm amazed that some of the respondents on this thread are happy to accept that that's the way things were. No, it is not acceptable.

Cardew

SunnyBunny12 wrote: »

Why has it taken so long for water companies to install water meters and charge people for what they use? The gas and electricity companies manage it.


Newly built houses have had meters installed since 1990, therefore, water companies have had 24 years of statistics to realise that some households are paying far more than they should be. Surely they have a duty to their customers to do something about this, rather than just knowingly pocketing the profits? SE Water have just installed meters in our area - it took the workmen less than half an hour per property and they didn't even need to come into the house. I'm amazed that some of the respondents on this thread are happy to accept that that's the way things were. No, it is not acceptable.

Firstly you need to appreciate that metered or non-metered it makes no difference to the water companies' profits. i.e. they are not 'pocketing the profits'.


The Revenue - and hence profit - a water company can raise is strictly controlled by the Regulator(ofwat). So if they lose revenue by customers moving to metered accounts, they simply increase other charges to compensate. They are in a win/win situation; or perhaps better stated as 'they can't lose!


Secondly they do suspect that some households would be better off with a meter - in fact some research pointed to 60% of currently unmetered properties would be better off with a meter.


Of course if that research is correct it means that 40% would not be better off with a meter.


The water companies are bound by the Water Privatisation Act and cannot(normally) insist that properties have a meter; and with unmetered houses they have no idea how much water is being used . There could be a lone widow living in a big house with a high RV, or a whole tribe - who water the garden frequently.


It is also pertinent that some people, even knowing that they could save with a meter, are terrified of having a leak in their pipe and having a huge bill to settle.


The whole business of water charges is a disgrace - mainly down to Government legislation. Where the water companies are at fault is in not enforcing the provision, given to them under the Water Privatisation Act, of compulsorily fitting a meter when the occupant changes. Some companies do this others don't bother.


The reason for failure to fit meters on change of occupant is given in the first two paragraphs above - they have no financial incentive to enforce the provision.


It is exactly the same with Surface Water Drainage(SWD) probably millions of people are paying for SWD who could claim exemption - but the customer must apply. Again this is a provision of the Water Privatisation Act and it doesn't matter to a water company if they claim or not - they still will get the same revenue and profit!