Just got £400 watewater bill united utilities

HappyMJ

damon2013 wrote: »

THanks.

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

Kind Regards,

The rateable value (RV) is the income you should expect to get if you rented it out...around 30 years ago.

Cardew

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?

damon2013 wrote: »

THanks.

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

Kind Regards,

It doesn't sound like it has a meter - ring UU and ask if you are not sure.

RV was the method of assessing 'local taxes' prior to April 1990. It then changed to the 'Poll tax' and then the present Council Tax.

From April 1990 water meters became mandatory in new properties, but the RV was retained for use by the water companies for older properties who didn't fit a meter.

However the RV was not a measure of property value but the notional rent the property. Two identical houses next door to each other might have a different RV if on was modernised and the oyher not.

damon2013

Thanks.

Is it cheaper regarding wastewater bills to have a meter or not have a meter.
Also is it cheaper to have a RV or the alternative?

HappyMJ

damon2013 wrote: »

Thanks.

Is it cheaper regarding wastewater bills to have a meter or not have a meter.
Also is it cheaper to have a RV or the alternative?

It depends. You need to estimate what your annual water bill would be before asking them to remove the meter. A generalization is that a meter is cheaper if there are less people in the property than there are bedrooms....but that isn't always the case you must check for yourself. Also, if you use water outside the house on a regular basis then it's unlikely a meter will be cheaper.

A normal person will use between 50 and 55 cubic metres per person per year. Multiply that by the number of people in the house and by the sum of the water and waste water charges then add the standing charges. The result will be close enough if you are an average user. If you really wanted to save money you could spend lots of money water saving measures such as new toilets and showers and installing water butts for outside usage which will reduce the water used.

damon2013

What about the wastewater situation?

There is now water being used at the moment.

matelodave

We are with Anglian Water and when we moved in three years ago our water/sewerage bill was based on the rateable value and worked out at £550 a year (£45 a month).

We went straight onto a water meter and it immediately reduced to their estimate of £250 a year (£21 a month). It has crept up to £312 last year (£26 a month) so we are quids in by having a water meter. Our usage for last year was 75cu.metres

There are only two of us, we don't have a bath just a shower and the toilets are low-flush. We do however have an automatic garden watering system. Even if we used the average of 55cu.m a person it would still only be about £450 (£38 a month) so a meter suits us.

You would have to do a few sums to try and estimate if you'd be cheaper with a meter (some of the water companies do have calculators on their websites to help you work it out) - the more people in the house the less viable it becomes especially if the majority are women or teenage girls;)