Water Companies Now Allow Monthly Paymernts - How Come?

samsmoot

I noticed that Severn Trent allow water charged to be set up to be paid monthly. There was a time when they insisted on 6 months in advance, so what's changed?

I remember a time when I was threatened with a Claim in the County Court if the advance charges were not paid (regulars on here will know how that ended), but now they have changed their tune, apparently. Was the regulator responsible? Or have they just got nicer?

greyteam1959

Been paying my water bill monthly for 10 years or more Yorkshire Water.

Cardew

I have been paying Severn Trent monthly for the past 25 years and 7 months.


That was initially when my charges were based on the RV of the house; and after April 1990 when metered.


When charges were based on the RV, the full amount for the year ahead was due in April, but as a concession you could pay 50% in April and 50% in October, or pay monthly.


Exactly the same system as my Council Tax bill for which payment is also due in advance, but I can pay monthly.

McKneff

Ive been paying Yorkshire Water monthly for donkeys years.

samsmoot

Thanks - so monthly payments for a non-metered supply is concessionary - is that right? It's entirely up to the water companies whether to allow this, yes?

samsmoot

The reason why I am confused is that water companies have tended in the past to ask for two 6-monthly payments, but now I see ST stating upfront that monthly payments are OK. It just seemed to be a change of heart from how they used to demand payment.

Cardew

samsmoot wrote: »

Thanks - so monthly payments for a non-metered supply is concessionary - is that right? It's entirely up to the water companies whether to allow this, yes?

I think monthly payments are at the discretion of the providing company - for any service, not just water.


I suspect if I had a bad history of payment with ST they would insist on payment in advance for non-metered services.

Candy53

We're with Anglian water, and when we set up with them they automatically assumed we would be paying monthly, as on the bill, it gave the price of the monthly payments, and sent us a payment book, incase we wanted to pay at the post office.



Candy

redux

Even with monthly payments, is the supplier entitled to get ahead of the game?

A bill has just come for 5 months, about £95.

They say the monthly direct debit is being increased from about £8 to about £23, even though it's currently a few quid in credit.

It seems to me that a steady £18 or £19 a month would make more sense than oscillating between too much and not enough, but may we ask them to set it at that level?

Pincher

As far as I can tell, Thames Water takes one meter reading in March, and that's it! Unless you move house, and submit a reading, naturally.

So there's no real point in adjusting the DD amount during the year, unless you force the point by keep submitting meter readings. The consumption probably goes up in summer, because you have visitors, and you are more active, so you have more showers and laundry, but is that a good reason to change the DD? Thames Water is simply not interested in keeping a close eye on my usage.

The only concern I have with annual readings is, in the event of an underground leak, I could be charged for a million litres, because nobody was checking.

2013yearofthehouse

Pincher wrote: »

As far as I can tell, Thames Water takes one meter reading in March, and that's it! Unless you move house, and submit a reading, naturally.

So there's no real point in adjusting the DD amount during the year, unless you force the point by keep submitting meter readings. The consumption probably goes up in summer, because you have visitors, and you are more active, so you have more showers and laundry, but is that a good reason to change the DD? Thames Water is simply not interested in keeping a close eye on my usage.

The only concern I have with annual readings is, in the event of an underground leak, I could be charged for a million litres, because nobody was checking.

Thames water have read our meter and sent a bill (sometimes with a monthly DD adjustment if neccessary) every July and December for several years.

We read it ourselves once a week to keep an eye on it, but never send them readings as they always read it themselves. Can you not keep an eye on your own meter to check you won't be charged for a million litres?