Entitled to water sewerage rebate?

teejay001

Hi, I have just taken a call from Utilities Cost Savings Ltd, informing me that I could be eligible for rebate and compensation from my water company. They went onto to say that water companies have been charging for rain water drainage which they shouldn't be and in a sense this is Mis-selling, they wanted me to send a one off payment of £99.00 for a recorded letter to be sent to me to send off a copy of my water bill and they would take the case up with my water company, within 5 weeks I would receive a cheque for the rebate and 8% interest. I refused to send any money until I received the rebate, they refused and left it at that. Has anyone had anything similar or know if I can find out more about mis selling of sewerage surface water drainage charges?

matelodave

You certainly don't need a company to do it for you, all you have to do is apply to your sewerage provider. You can probably download a form from their website, or give them a ring

You will have to certify that none of your down pipes or other surface water goes into the sewer (ie run off from drives, patios, sheds or roofs etc) and you should get a reduction in the sewerage portion of your water bill. If any surface water does go into the drains then you won't get the reduction. If you have a rainwater harvesting system and any of that goes into a sewer then you can't claim either.

You can only claim back any charge from the current year (ie since 1st April 2013), you cannot get any charges from previous years (check the rules) and there's a fair chance that it's won't be much more than £50 a year anyway - I'm with Anglian Water and the surface water charge is £44.

It won't cost you anything to check - this firm is trying it on and making money from people who can't be bothered to check their own bills or terms & conditions. If on inspection you do have water going into the drains, they wont give you your £99 back

So check first and then give the sewerage company a ring - don't send £99 to these shysters