Paying an anual of £500 for a 1 bed flat? Meter switch?

babygirll

Hi guys i'm in my first flat ever, its a 1 bed flat and im wondering whether my water bill seems too high.
I pay £30 a month and a further £200 for sewerage bills and it comes to £500 for the year.
Now because i cant pay the £200 right away my bills have gone up £45 a month for a 1 bed flat!
I hardly use my water as im away most of the day and never leave water running, i dont own a pool, hose etc. My electric bills are very low.

Im really thinking of switching to a meter because i really cant afford it and i think its too high. I am with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water btw.
Does £500 seem too high to you guys? what are your water bills?
I did an online calculator and it said i could save £300?

Any advice wold be great because im worrying a bit its my first flat. Thanks guys.

Robin9

What lovely low bills.

Go to your suppliers website and use their calculator to see if a metered supply is a better option.

robotrobo

babygirll wrote: »

Hi guys i'm in my first flat ever, its a 1 bed flat and im wondering whether my water bill seems too high.
I pay £30 a month and a further £200 for sewerage bills and it comes to £500 for the year.
Now because i cant pay the £200 right away my bills have gone up £45 a month for a 1 bed flat!
I hardly use my water as im away most of the day and never leave water running, i dont own a pool, hose etc. My electric bills are very low.

Im really thinking of switching to a meter because i really cant afford it and i think its too high. I am with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water btw.
Does £500 seem too high to you guys? what are your water bills?
I did an online calculator and it said i could save £300?

Any advice wold be great because im worrying a bit its my first flat. Thanks guys.

in 2006 my water bills were £700.
i reckon by going metered , i have saved £2700
my recent bill was £250
we live in a 2 bed bungalow, and we often have our grandchildren staying.
i reckon your bill will get sub £200 if you wanted.
its a no brainer.

matelodave

I'd say it was a no brainer.


When you are on a meter you pay for what you use, so you've got the opportunity to regulate your costs by keeping an eye on your consumption


Where I live (Anglian Water) I'd be paying nigh on £600/year even if I didn't use any water. On a meter it's just over £300 for two of us at home all day in a 3 bed bungalow (although the size of the place has no bearing on the amount of water we use).


I wash the cars when they are dirty and we've got an automatic garden watering system which gets used in the summer months.

Cardew

It is a 'no brainer' to get a meter!


In the unlikely event it didn't work out to be cheaper you can revert back to your present charging system(within 12 months).

silvercar

Cardew wrote: »

It is a 'no brainer' to get a meter!


In the unlikely event it didn't work out to be cheaper you can revert back to your present charging system(within 12 months).

I discussed this with my water provider (affinity water) this week and was told they no longer offer the option to revert to a non-metered billing system once you have chosen to take a meter.

Cardew

silvercar wrote: »

I discussed this with my water provider (affinity water) this week and was told they no longer offer the option to revert to a non-metered billing system once you have chosen to take a meter.

This from affinity water's website today.

https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/docs/Why-switch-to-a-meter-east.pdf

Don’t worry – if you find that
having a water meter is not
for you, you can switch back
to non-metered billing at no
extra cost, provided you do
so in writing within the first
12 months of the date of
installation of the meter or
within 30 days of receiving
the second account based
on the measured charges,
which ever is the later. But
in our experience, very few
people decide to do so.

That is if you applied for a meter, not if you are in a compulsory metered area.

If you have a swimming pool that might not apply.

silvercar

Cardew wrote: »

This from affinity water's website today.

https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/docs/Why-switch-to-a-meter-east.pdf



That is if you applied for a meter, not if you are in a compulsory metered area.

If you have a swimming pool that might not apply.

No swimming pool.

That's not my area as my waste water is Thames not Anglian and those average figures quoted for meter users are much higher than I was quoted.

Apparently my area is an area designated as a shortage area and they are moving to meter everyone gradually.

footyguy

silvercar wrote: »

No swimming pool.

That's not my area as my waste water is Thames not Anglian and those average figures quoted for meter users are much higher than I was quoted.

Apparently my area is an area designated as a shortage area and they are moving to meter everyone gradually.

What do you mean by "That's not my area" ? :huh:

You said your water was supplied by affinity water ... it doesn't really matter who supplies your sewerage.
Your sewerage is charged in a comparable way to your water. If the water is charged on a metered basis, so is the sewerage; if the water is not, neither is is sewerage. (there's no separate meter for sewerage)

Affinity are rolling our meters as part of a 'Water Saving Programme'
Depending on your exact location, this could affect you anytime between now and 2020.

If your meter is fitted as part of this (compulsory) programme, you will still be charged on an unmetered basis for 2 more years after the meter is installed (unless you request to be charged on a metered basis earlier)

More details here:
https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/metering.aspx

footyguy

babygirll wrote: »

...Im really thinking of switching to a meter because i really cant afford it and i think its too high. ...I did an online calculator and it said i could save £300?

Any advice wold be great because im worrying a bit its my first flat. Thanks guys.

What exactly are you worried about?

The possibility of saving yourself £300 a year, and so hopefully not getting into payment difficulties with your water supplier?

:huh:

silvercar

footyguy wrote: »

What do you mean by "That's not my area" ? :huh:

You said your water was supplied by affinity water ... it doesn't really matter who supplies your sewerage.
Your sewerage is charged in a comparable way to your water. If the water is charged on a metered basis, so is the sewerage; if the water is not, neither is is sewerage. (there's no separate meter for sewerage)

Affinity are rolling our meters as part of a 'Water Saving Programme'
Depending on your exact location, this could affect you anytime between now and 2020.

If your meter is fitted as part of this (compulsory) programme, you will still be charged on an unmetered basis for 2 more years after the meter is installed (unless you request to be charged on a metered basis earlier)

More details here:
https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/metering.aspx

Affinity has 3 different charging rates depending on your area, the link Cardew quoted showed rates that aren't for my area, they were much higher than I was quoted.

Forecast Average Bills

Central Region: For 2015/16 the forecast average bill is £171.88 a year (14/15 £170.38). Average domestic metered bills will be £151.21 a year and the average domestic unmetered bill will be £190.06 a year.

Southeast Region: For 2015/16 the forecast average bill is £220.93 (14/15 £222.42). Average domestic metered bills will be £222.05 a year and the average domestic unmetered bill will be £208.03 a year.

East Region: For 2015/16 the forecast average bill is £176.88 (14/15 £183.79). Average domestic metered bills will be £164.74 a year and the average domestic unmetered bill will be £216.13 a year.