WaterSure scheme - some concerns

Tua

I applied to United Utilities for the WaterSure scheme in October and was informed that I was eligible. (And I was also told that my eligibility would be back-dated to June 2014).


Naturally I was rather pleased as I assumed that I could look forward to lower water service charges. However, my most recent bill (5 June - 3 December 2014) is £206.93 - and this is considerably higher than I was expecting. It's higher than my previous bill (23 November 2013 - 4 June 2014) which was £176.79.


One of my concerns with WaterSure is that there is no mention of my water meter reading on the bill (the reading was taken by a United Utilities appointed chappie) - hence I haven't been able to make any comparative calculations myself.
Another concern is that there is no indication of how much (if any!) discount I've been granted as a result of being eligible for the WaterSure scheme.
When I 'phoned U.U last year to ask for more information about WaterSure I was led to believe that the savings would be quite significant - but judging by my current bill I'd say that there are no savings to be made at all!


I've re-read the letter sent by UU regarding the scheme and it seems very ambiguous. This is a quote from it:
"We will continue to read your meter during the time that you qualify for help. However, the charges you have to pay will not be based on your water consumption. They will be based on the assisted charge, which is £415.00 for the current financial year."
Does anyone know what an "assisted charge" is?


The letter goes on to say:
"After 12 months on the scheme, we will compare the amount you would have been charged if you had not received help. If the water used would have resulted in a smaller bill, we will credit your account with the difference."
So presumably "help" from U.U is not necessarily a helpful thing in terms of money-saving?

Please can anyone explain the actual benefits of the WaterSure scheme?

Cardew

Explained in detail here


https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/assistance/watersure/


WaterSure (vulnerable groups scheme)



You are here: Ofwat > Household consumers > Extra care services > WaterSure (vulnerable groups scheme)



The WaterSure scheme is available for certain customers with a water meter. It allows them to have their bills capped. This is to make sure that these customers don’t cut back on how much water they use because they are worried about how they will pay their bill.
To qualify for help under the WaterSure scheme, you or someone living with you, needs be entitled to receive one of the following:

• Universal Credit
• housing benefit
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit (except families in receipt of the family element only)
• Pension Credit
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

In addition, you need to either:

• be responsible for three or more children under the age of 19 and in full-time education living in the property, or
• have (or someone living in the property must have) a medical condition which requires significant additional use of water. Examples of medical conditions include weeping skin diseases (such as psoriasis), Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

Cardew

'Assisted' means you will pay no more than £415pa. If according to the metered consumption you used, say, £500pa you will get an £85 reduction.

Tua

Cardew wrote: »

'Assisted' means you will pay no more than £415pa. If according to the metered consumption you used, say, £500pa you will get an £85 reduction.

So presumably if I don't use more than £415 pa I won't get any discount at all?


When I made initial enquiries about the scheme, the member of United Utilities staff that I spoke to assured me that I'd be getting a "substantial" discount ... but this doesn't seem to be the case at all.
And even if I am entitled to a tiny amount of discount, I'll have to wait for an entire year before it's applied to my bill.


In other words ... WaterSure is a pointless but elaborate PR exercise for the water companies ... it doesn't REALLY benefit those in need!

matelodave

It appears that you actually didn't read the small print.

It doesn't say that you'll get a discount just that it will be capped at £415 so it does benefit those who have to use a lot of water.

However looking the rules, if you use less than £415 they'll credit you with the difference at the end of the year so you aren't any worse off. In fact you could be better off as you now have an incentive to use less water.

Cardew

Tua wrote: »

So presumably if I don't use more than £415 pa I won't get any discount at all?


When I made initial enquiries about the scheme, the member of United Utilities staff that I spoke to assured me that I'd be getting a "substantial" discount ... but this doesn't seem to be the case at all.
And even if I am entitled to a tiny amount of discount, I'll have to wait for an entire year before it's applied to my bill.


In other words ... WaterSure is a pointless but elaborate PR exercise for the water companies ... it doesn't REALLY benefit those in need!

It actually does benefit those in need.


Take a couple with 3 children(needed to get Water sure) and receiving one of the benefits listed above(tax credits etc). The average consumption for 5 people in UK is 275 cubic metres pa.


With United Utilities that will cost £894 pa. They will pay £415

Tua

Cardew wrote: »

It actually does benefit those in need.


Take a couple with 3 children(needed to get Water sure) and receiving one of the benefits listed above(tax credits etc). The average consumption for 5 people in UK is 275 cubic metres pa.


With United Utilities that will cost £894 pa. They will pay £415

I can see that the scheme may help *some* of those in need, Cardew ... but not all who are eligible will benefit: in fact, I have discovered that I would be temporarily out-of-pocket for a period of 12 months because I opted into the scheme.


I qualified for WaterSure because my son has chronic eczema and I receive state pension credit. There are just the two of us in the household.
My latest water bill (June-Dec) was approximately £30 higher under the WaterSure scheme than it would have been if I hadn't have applied to join it. Presumably my next bill would be proportionately higher too. And yes, I may well be in line for some sort of discount or refund at the end of 2015 ... but I will have been making O.T.T payments throughout the year in order to achieve this ... and who knows how our circumstances may change between now and the time when the 'capping' comes into play?


So naturally I have withdrawn from the scheme. I received a re-jigged bill from United Utilities this morning (online) ... and sure enough it's £30.73 LESS than the amount that they billed me under the WaterSure scheme!

Cardew

Tua wrote: »

I can see that the scheme may help *some* of those in need, Cardew ... but not all who are eligible will benefit: in fact, I have discovered that I would be temporarily out-of-pocket for a period of 12 months because I opted into the scheme.

The purpose of the scheme is to protect people from excessive bills; not simply to compensate those who meet the qualifying criteria.


Your bills are not excessive.

matelodave

this is what it says in the application pack documents

Once you’re on the WaterSure scheme, we’ll keep reading your meter.

Each year we will look at what you would have paid if your water bill had been calculated on the amount of water actually used. If this shows that your WaterSure charges are higher than you would have paid based on your meter readings, then we will credit your account once a year with the difference


So it's not actually totally clear that they'll be taking the whole £415 and then giving you the balance back but it does suggest it.

poppasmurf_bewdley

The following is from the Ofwat website:

To qualify for help under the WaterSure scheme, you or someone living with you, needs be entitled to receive one of the following:

Universal Credit
housing benefit
Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit (except families in receipt of the family element only)
Pension Credit
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
In addition, you need to either:

be responsible for three or more children under the age of 19 and in full-time education living in the property, or
have (or someone living in the property must have) a medical condition which requires significant additional use of water. Examples of medical conditions include weeping skin diseases (such as psoriasis), Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

So you must have four or more people living in the house, or be using extra water for medical purposes, so you must be using a large amount of water, for which the scheme will compensate you.

freshstart11

The company I worked for do water sure on set dates. It was possible this higher bill was actually for a longer period of time than normal bill still sent at same time but charges dates differ