Water meter..is it worth it for me? 29 December 2015 at 1:36PM in Water bills 19 replies 2.3K views

System

spiro wrote: »

As the new occupier the water company are entitled to fit a water meter and you have no right to have it removed. The 1 year rule applies to existing tenants who opt to have a meter.

Your advice doesn't seem to accord with that on the Citizens' Advice website. You may be correct but I cannot find any confirmation that water meters can be made compulsory UNLESS the supplier is introducing compulsory water metering.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/water/water-supply/paying-your-water-bill/changing-to-a-water-meter/

I stand ready to be corrected.

macman

My understanding is that metering can be imposed by the supplier on a new occupier, (tenant or owner), but it's not clear from the ST website what their present compulsory metering policy is. Essentially, it's at the supplier's discretion.
However with a potential RV bill of £1200, and 12m to revert, it's really a no-brainer in this case.

Cardew

Hengus wrote: »

I stand ready to be corrected.

May I do just that please;)

All water companies are allowed to fit a meter on change of occupant, if fact that was the guiding principle in The Water Act when the industry was privatised.

However some companies enforced that Regulation, others didn't. There have been loads of posts on MSE where a meter was fitted against the customer's wishes - and not in areas where there is compulsory metering.

The problem is there is no incentive for the companies to enforce the regulation; their profits are safeguarded regardless of customers metered or not.

System

Cardew wrote: »

May I do just that please;)

All water companies are allowed to fit a meter on change of occupant, if fact that was the guiding principle in The Water Act when the industry was privatised.

However some companies enforced that Regulation, others didn't. There have been loads of posts on MSE where a meter was fitted against the customer's wishes - and not in areas where there is compulsory metering.

The problem is there is no incentive for the companies to enforce the regulation; their profits are safeguarded regardless of customers metered or not.

Thanks. One is not too old to learn. I agree that metering is sensible for the OP - and it would have been even more sensible for the previous occupant.

Cardew

Hengus wrote: »

Your advice doesn't seem to accord with that on the Citizens' Advice website. You may be correct but I cannot find any confirmation that water meters can be made compulsory UNLESS the supplier is introducing compulsory water metering.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/water/water-supply/paying-your-water-bill/changing-to-a-water-meter/

I stand ready to be corrected.

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/prs_lft_101117meters.pdf

Your company can choose to install a meter at your property. However, it can only


charge you using the meter if you:






• use an automatic watering device (such as a garden sprinkler);


• automatically fill a swimming pool;


• have a power shower or extra large bath;


• use a reverse osmosis water softening unit;


• are the new occupier of a property (provided it has not already sent you an
unmetered bill);

Norman_Castle

sam1970 wrote: »

For the five of us (me, my partner and 3 children) our current water bill (on meter- 4 bed house) is about £450.

Your consumption is unlikely to change so use that combined with possibly different charges for house type, drainage etc and different water company charges to work out predicted charges. As you can revert back within a year its certainly worth trying a meter.

£1200 for one persons water:eek:.. How much could they have saved by having a meter fitted years ago?.

Cardew

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Your consumption is unlikely to change so use that combined with possibly different charges for house type, drainage etc and different water company charges to work out predicted charges. As you can revert back within a year its certainly worth trying a meter.

£1200 for one persons water:eek:.. How much could they have saved by having a meter fitted years ago?.

As a new occupant he won't have that option to revert back to RV based charges. However it is highly unlikely that he would want to revert.


My house was built in 1988 and in 1990 I had to pay to have a meter fitted(inspected by Severn Trent) - not done free in those days. Had I remained on RV based Charges I would be paying this year £1,690 pa instead of around £450. In 25 years I estimate I would have paid more than £20,000 extra by not fitting a meter.

matelodave

I'm with Cardew - we've had a water meter for years and I reckon it's saved us £000's. In our present place it's saving £300 a year just on the standing charges,


I can't remember what the RV was when we moved here 5 years ago but we instantly reduced the bill by around £400 by getting a meter fitted as soon as we moved in. The previous owners were literally chucking money down the drain.

Ian011

Hengus wrote: »

For more details please ring 08457 090 646.

Following various regulations and guidance issued over the last few years, this telephone number is now likely to be incorrect.

Most organisations have changed their premium rate 0845 lines over to the cheaper matching 0345 number. Check their official website for the current contact details.