Just got £400 watewater bill united utilities

damon2013

Hi,

We received a £400 wastewater bill from united utilities for Aug 2013 to Aug 2014. It is currently an unoccupied building so the water is turned off.
Is this a normal bill, it seems large?
Also are there other water companies that could be used to reduced this bill?

Thanks a lot!

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

No options on moving to another water company.

Is this for a commercial or domestic building?

If the latter and it is unfurnished then you need to speak to the water company.

damon2013

Its now just a house building, unoccupied, all the furniture is being removed.

How come there is no option to move to another water company?

Is united utilities the only one?

giraffe69

You are tied to the water company that serves your area so correct no opportunity to change.

macman

damon2013 wrote: »

Its now just a house building, unoccupied, all the furniture is being removed.

How come there is no option to move to another water company?

Is united utilities the only one?

Because it's a regional monopoly and always has been, whether under the old water boards or under privatised regulation. Water supply is regonalised, unlike gas or electricity.
If UU are your regional supplier, that's your only option.

damon2013

So does £400 sound high?
Its a large detached house.

matelodave

Have you got a water meter - if not it will be based on the rateable value whatever amount you might have used. Unless you specifically notified them that the place would be empty and they had agreed they will bill you as though you'd used water. Just turning the water off doesn't stop the billing especially if your water & sewerage are supplied by different companies, you should inform them both and not hope that they talk to each other

A water meter would just have incurred the standing charges as there wouldn't be any usage recorded and usually the water co will inform the sewerage co of any usage and it would have automatically been adjusted.

When my mum died I notified both the water co & sewerage co and they froze the bill based on the meter reading that I gave them at the time. Then when we sold the house they just billed the standing charges and for the minimal usage when we gave them the final reading. They did offer to come and shut the water off but that would have incurred reconnection charges so we didn't bother.

I don't know if £400 sounds high, is that just sewerage or both water & sewerage. Bills based on rateable value can be very high as it is based on the RV not the amount of water you use, so if you have a high RV then you'll pay a lot more than a house with low RV and probably significantly more than if you have a water meter.

macman

Impossible to say without knowing the RV. Rates vary by up to 250% nationally.
Is this metered or RV billing-I assume RV?

Cardew

damon2013 wrote: »

Its now just a house building, unoccupied, all the furniture is being removed.

How come there is no option to move to another water company?

Is united utilities the only one?

I believe that UU waive charges for unoccupied and unfurnished houses for a period of time - ring up and ask!

Waste water charges(assuming non-metered) were £1.382p(for 2012/13) per £1 of Rateable value(RV) so a bill of £400 would put your RV at approx £280 - which is not high for a large detached house.

damon2013

matelodave wrote: »

Have you got a water meter - if not it will be based on the rateable value whatever amount you might have used. Unless you specifically notified them that the place would be empty and they had agreed they will bill you as though you'd used water. Just turning the water off doesn't stop the billing especially if your water & sewerage are supplied by different companies, you should inform them both and not hope that they talk to each other

A water meter would just have incurred the standing charges as there wouldn't be any usage recorded and usually the water co will inform the sewerage co of any usage and it would have automatically been adjusted.

When my mum died I notified both the water co & sewerage co and they froze the bill based on the meter reading that I gave them at the time. Then when we sold the house they just billed the standing charges and for the minimal usage when we gave them the final reading. They did offer to come and shut the water off but that would have incurred reconnection charges so we didn't bother.

I don't know if £400 sounds high, is that just sewerage or both water & sewerage. Bills based on rateable value can be very high as it is based on the RV not the amount of water you use, so if you have a high RV then you'll pay a lot more than a house with low RV and probably significantly more than if you have a water meter.

Thanks, yes its on a meter I think, so that's now been turned off.
When you say rateable value, is that the value of the property?
What about the actual size if it is that related?
I am unsure whether its sewerage or water and sewerage, I assume its just sewerage isn't it if the main water is turned off and the bill specified wastewater?
Thanks.

damon2013

macman wrote: »

Impossible to say without knowing the RV. Rates vary by up to 250% nationally.
Is this metered or RV billing-I assume RV?

THanks.

does RV mean rateable value? Is this the current value of the property? How would they even know that?

Kind Regards,