South-east water, social tariff and water sure 8 October 2015 at 5:59PM edited 8 October 2015 at 6:51PM in Water bills 2 replies 3.4K views

preciousillusions

Hi there,

Does anyone who is under Southeast water know much about these two tariffs?

http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/your-account/paying-your-bill/difficulty-paying-your-bill

It looks like I am actually eligible for both at my new property and will be on a water meter. However I cannot figure out whether you can apply for both at the same time or which is better to be on if it is one or the other? The social tariff sounds pretty straight forward to apply for, but I would imagine people eligible for WaterSure are often also eligible for the social tariff no?

If anyone has any experience of either I'd really appreciate hearing from you. Bit worried about being on a water meter as even though I am a single person I do use a lot of water and have been on a set charge at my current flat which has been really low at just £115 per year. Thanks!

macman

I don't think you can have both! Check with the supplier.Since they quote Watersure as capped to the 'average bill', they should be able to tell you exactly how much that is. Then compare that to your estimated metered usage, work out the billing for that from the rates shown on their site and deduct 40%. That should tell you which will be cheaper.
Either way though it is likely to be more than your current billing, which is exceptionally low.

preciousillusions

Thank you. Spoke to water company today and it's the social tariff that will be cheaper and cap my water cost to £116 (so I don't need to worry about using a lot). Then there's just the waste-water charge from another company which will be assessed by them but will either be £60 or £30 (50% off) depending on whether I fit their criteria for someone that's water use is 3% or more than their income. This will be decided after my water use is totalled (even though I won't be paying that amount as fresh-water use is capped). Funny really that it benefits me to use even more water now to reach that 3%+!, I am sure that will be the case anyhow though as am just on ESA income wise. Fair price, though. Happy to not have to worry.