MSE News: Water bills to fall 2% over the next year in England and Wales

lollipopsarah

We have just got our new bill and it's gone down from £55 to £52 a month for a smallish 3 bedroom flat.
xx

sniggings

lollipopsarah wrote: »

We have just got our new bill and it's gone down from £55 to £52 a month for a smallish 3 bedroom flat.
xx

that's ridiculous.

yet Scotland pay around the same council tax as England, yet their water rates is included.

J0sh_2

Just got water bill today...7.81% increase!

Last year's bill: £448.29
This year's bill: £483.31

Affinity Water, NW London. Combined water & sewage bill. Unmetered because we live in a flat. Only two of us.

bodacious

hmmm, decrease for some. Mine is to increase nearly 30% this year because Anglian Water have decided to phase out the SoLow tariff :mad:

It is a metered supply and I use just 19 cubic meters a year, so to face such a whopping percentage increase is totally out of order.

and you can't even show your disgust by changing providers - that's all wrong!

Cardew

J0sh wrote: »

Just got water bill today...7.81% increase!

Last year's bill: £448.29
This year's bill: £483.31

Affinity Water, NW London. Combined water & sewage bill. Unmetered because we live in a flat. Only two of us.

If you apply for a meter, and it cannot be fitted, you will get offered the assessed rate. However you must apply for a meter to kick off the process.


You can look up assessed charges on their website

J0sh_2

Hi Cardew, thanks. I was told I could not get a meter when I opened the account when I moved in. They initially said a water meter was mandatory and signed me up for it but then shortly after they cancelled that and said I can't have one for this property. At the time they did not offer me assessed rate or mention it. This was in 2007. Because they told me I could not get a water meter I of course did not apply for it again. I was unaware of assessed rates until today.

I phoned them today. They have a record of the aborted water meter procedure and the woman I spoke to was surprised herself I was not switched to assessed rate (I was living alone at the time and my flat is a two bedroom property).

I have just submitted a claim for refund with the following comments -- how do you rate my chances?

"In 2007 I moved into this property and called the water company to have the bill put into my name. I was told I would get a water meter as that was mandatory for all new accounts. I was happy with that as at the time I was living alone and the bill would surely be lower that way. Shortly afterwards I was contacted by the water company and was told I could not get a water meter for this property. There was no mention at all from the company about Assessed Charges even though I should have been offered it / put onto it automatically as per Ofwat. Because it was made clear to me that I could not get a water meter I of course did not apply for it again. I believe the water company has failed in its duty to me and has contravened the Ofwat agreements on this. I should have been offered assessed charges when it became clear a water meter could not be installed. I live in a two bedroom property and the amount I would have been paying on assessed charge is significantly lower than the amount I have been paying on the regular bill, for example: 2014-15 assessed charge Thames Water would have been £304 while my bill was £448. I request a refund for the amounts I have paid above the assessed charge since having been told I cannot have a water meter, i.e. since 2007."

Cardew

J0sh wrote: »

Hi Cardew, thanks. I was told I could not get a meter when I opened the account when I moved in. They initially said a water meter was mandatory and signed me up for it but then shortly after they cancelled that and said I can't have one for this property. At the time they did not offer me assessed rate or mention it. This was in 2007. Because they told me I could not get a water meter I of course did not apply for it again. I was unaware of assessed rates until today.

I phoned them today. They have a record of the aborted water meter procedure and the woman I spoke to was surprised herself I was not switched to assessed rate (I was living alone at the time and my flat is a two bedroom property).

I have just submitted a claim for refund with the following comments -- how do you rate my chances?

"In 2007 I moved into this property and called the water company to have the bill put into my name. I was told I would get a water meter as that was mandatory for all new accounts. I was happy with that as at the time I was living alone and the bill would surely be lower that way. Shortly afterwards I was contacted by the water company and was told I could not get a water meter for this property. There was no mention at all from the company about Assessed Charges even though I should have been offered it / put onto it automatically as per Ofwat. Because it was made clear to me that I could not get a water meter I of course did not apply for it again. I believe the water company has failed in its duty to me and has contravened the Ofwat agreements on this. I should have been offered assessed charges when it became clear a water meter could not be installed. I live in a two bedroom property and the amount I would have been paying on assessed charge is significantly lower than the amount I have been paying on the regular bill, for example: 2014-15 assessed charge Thames Water would have been £304 while my bill was £448. I request a refund for the amounts I have paid above the assessed charge since having been told I cannot have a water meter, i.e. since 2007."

As a single occupant your assessed rate would have been even lower.


Were you informed in writing that a meter couldn't be fitted?


Although a semantic point, the regulations state you must apply for a meter, and technically you didn't apply. None the less the spirit of the regulation is surely that you should have been offered an assessed charge.


I would think you have a very good chance of getting a rebate - but for 6 years only(statute barred)


You might have to make a fuss if they say no. If that is the case the Consumer Council For Water - http://www.ccwater.org.uk/ should be your first step; they are excellent.


Please let us know how you get on.

J0sh_2

Thanks Cardew.

I had a call back today and as you predicted they made the semantic point of the "account hand over/set up" procedure not being the same as me applying for a water meter directly, so they claim they had no obligation to tell me about assessed charges or to put me on it as it was a different process.

I asked her to send me this in writing via email. She said it had been reviewed by her director and he is of the same opinion so I guess this means I can now send it to the CCW as I have exhausted the Affinity complaints process (two levels).

Do you know if this Ofwat regulation/agreement with the water companies regarding assessed rate has a specific name/title/Act so that I can refer to it? I tried looking for it but couldn't find anything.

Also, when did this take effect? I saw 2007 being mentioned but this happened in March/April 2007 so I hope it was already in effect then.

Many thanks

Edit: I can't recall how they informed me of water meter not being possible. I will need to dig through my papers, not sure I would have kept it. What I have been told by their customer service person is that: 1. On their system they have a record of the aborted water meter procedure, 2. They told me that in 2007 it was general policy to not pursue the mandatory water meter installation process for flats. So perhaps when they realised I was living in a flat they cancelled it.

J0sh_2

In addition: If I pay the current water bill which is due 1st April and is non-assessed, am I implicitly agreeing to be billed non-assessed? Should I tell them I won't pay the bill until the CCW has reviewed the dispute?

Cardew

Get on the phone to Consumer Council for Water(link on Post#28) on Monday and explain the situation. In the unlikely event that CCW don't take up your case, take the water company to the Small Claims Court.

For them to notify you that a meter couldn't be fitted, and then state you must apply for a meter in order to get an assessed charge is ludicrous.

You will need to trawl through all the amendments to The Water Act to get a date when assessed charges were introduced.

There was an article by one of the MSE staff in 2005(now no longer available) that referred to assessed charges amongst other charges. The assessed charge was frequently referred to in the thread about that article. This is an extract from just one of the posts:

Most households in England, Wales and Scotland are entitled to a free meter from their water company on request. However, there are circumstances when a water company can refuse to install a meter if it is unreasonably impractical or expensive to do so - if shared water supply pipes need to be separated, for example.
In situations like this, if the customer is willing to pay for the necessary work then the water utilities company may still install the meter free of charge.
If it is impossible to have a meter installed, then your water company should offer you an 'assessed charge' where you pay a bill based on an estimate of your water supply usage or what other metered customers in your area pay for their water utilities, or you can carry on paying an unmeasured bill based on the RV of your property.

I posted this over 8 years ago.

Most companies insist that new occupants are on a metered tariff. However it is sometimes difficult to fit a meter in flats.

If you are not on a meter you will probably be on a Rateable Value tariff. If a meter cannot be fitted you may be better off asking for an assessed charge.