high than expect water bill

sddxac

I have recently sold my 2 bed flat in Apr but got a water bill for Nov 2014 to Apr 2015 from the mgmt company, which showed I used 92 m3 water and charged me almost £240! But I paid only 104 for Nov 2013 to Nov 2014 and I don't use much more than usual water.

How can it jump so much! I forgot to take the meter reading when I moved out. Actually not read it for years. So I can not really argue the meter reading with them. Anyone can have some good advice on what I should do?

G_M

sddxac wrote: »

Anyone can have some good advice on what I should do?

Yes. Make sure you read your meters (water, gas, electricity) in future.

Same when you fill up the car with petrol - check the pump display before going in to pay, rather than just handing over whatever amount the chap behind the till asks for.

Providing the readings are now correct, not estimated, I don't see how you can complain.

sddxac

G_M wrote: »

Yes. Make sure you read your meters (water, gas, electricity) in future.

Same when you fill up the car with petrol - check the pump display before going in to pay, rather than just handing over whatever amount the chap behind the till asks for.

Providing the readings are now correct, not estimated, I don't see how you can complain.

I just forgot to do the water reading, all other bills are fine. But I am more surprised that how it can jump so much. I have been living in the block for more than 3 years and never see such high bills

dimbo61

For the last 10years I have lived in a 4 bed house and we try to be careful of wasting water, gas or electric.
The water bill with a meter outside has always been over £500 a year.
;£104 for 12 months water in a 2 bed flat is very very cheap.

jimbog

£104 a year is low. I live on my own and am frugal with water and I use 12 cubic metres per quarter (£50). I suspect you had estimated readings up to when you moved out (maybe)?

audigex

There's not a chance in hell you actually used £104 November->November, even in a small flat - I guarantee you there was a mistake there.

Somewhere along the line there's been a mistaken reading or a series of estimated readings based on an incorrect reading or series of readings.

I suspect you're actually using around £240/year, but the November->November reading was somehow accidentally halved, leaving the other half to only be noticed in April.

So your £104 was for something like November 13->April 14, and the £240 was for April 14->April 15.

Somehow the November reading was estimated or read wrongly, making it appear lower. When the proper reading was taken the next payment included it all

You've still paid for 18 months of water, you've just paid for 6 months worth after 12 months, then 12 months worth after a further 6 months...

Shelldean

You said you'd not read it for years? So presume previous bills were estimates? But this last one was probably an accurate reading.rather than estimated one.
You've possibly been under paying for several years and.now you've moved out it caught up with you.

sddxac

thanks for all replies. I think I will just pay this and close it as I have moved out. I have thought 104 is normal, and now from other's comments, it seems the mgmt company may be using estimated bill before... although they did give me meter reading for each bill...

ognum

Consider whether you may have had a small leak, at one time I had a toilet that dribbled a tiny bit of water into the bowl all the time. My bill was enormous!

AlexMac

ognum wrote: »

Consider whether you may have had a small leak, at one time I had a toilet that dribbled a tiny bit of water into the bowl all the time. My bill was enormous!

yeah... when we 1st moved to this place 3 years ago, we failed to spot a dribble down the pan from a furred up valve in a close-coupled cistern; a common problem... We nearly fell over when we got the 1st annual bill for £800 based on the initial readings; accurate as we moved in on Sept 1st, the day of the 6-monthly meter check.

We've now got it down to about £300-odd p.a. by being really tight; not bad for a family house! (I shower at the gym, collect rainwater for the garden and never wash my car due to idleness...)

Interestingly; when we described our water usage to the guy recently sent by the Water Board with a geeky computer programme to ask intrusive Q's to encourage economy, this - £300-ish is exactly what he estimated we'd pay...

... but if he tweaked his software to a more 'normally wasteful' pattern by adding things that we don't do but could; take deep baths daily, run taps when brushing teeth, flush it down every pii (rather than 'if it's yellow let it mellow; Oz-style....), use a hose... it was easy to get projected usage and cost up to almost twice that.

Although he did admit that this unsolicited lifestyle advice didn't always go down well with consumers and that he had sometimes been chucked out of customers' houses!

t0rt0ise

The Price of water depends on the area. Water in the South West for example costs heaps more than anywhere else. You can't possibly judge your costs by someone on a forum where people live in very different areas.