Water bill very high

cherokee93

Hi - can anyone help me? I've recently moved to a new property in Nottingham - 3 bedroom detached, 2 adults living here now. There is no water meter. The annual bill comes in at about £1200 which seems, to me, utterly bonkers. I've queried it with Severn Trent and all they say is "switch to a meter". I reckon switching will save £50-£60 a month but is there no way to appeal against the current charge? I'm sure the rateable value must be incorrect but as its historic, Severn Trent say they can't change it.

Norman_Castle

They can't change it. They also cannot change historically low rateable values. Get a meter.

matelodave

As Norman says, no they can't change it. There are a lot of anomolies out there but you are stuck with it unless you get yourself a water meter.

Even if I didn't use any water my bill on RV would be around £600 whereas on a water meter it's just over £300

Cardew

Why would £1200 pa be a mistake.

In Nottingham that equates to a Rateable Value of around £450, which is not unusual for a detached house in a nice area

cherokee93

Cardew - it would be a mistake because my neighbours' bill (same house as mine, prior to their extensions) is a third of that. Also - you say it equates to an RV of 450; I'm told my RV is 280. So, surely the bill is incorrect?

Norman - I didn't phrase my post very well. I didn't mean to suggest the RV itself is incorrect, but that Severn Trent's record of it is. I'd like to know what the previous occupants' bills were!

Cardew

cherokee93 wrote: »

Cardew - it would be a mistake because my neighbours' bill (same house as mine, prior to their extensions) is a third of that. Also - you say it equates to an RV of 450; I'm told my RV is 280. So, surely the bill is incorrect?

Norman - I didn't phrase my post very well. I didn't mean to suggest the RV itself is incorrect, but that Severn Trent's record of it is. I'd like to know what the previous occupants' bills were!

Who told you your RV was £280? It will be shown on your bill.

The 2017/18 charges are here. https://www.stwater.co.uk/content/dam/stw_businesses/our-charges-2017/svt-hh-summary-of-charges-2017-18.pdf

The maximum charges for your property with an RV of £280 would be £673.12.

The RV was fixed in April 1990 by the Council. RV changed to 'The Poll Tax' on that date and later to the present Council Tax

Norman_Castle

cherokee93 wrote: »

I didn't mean to suggest the RV itself is incorrect, but that Severn Trent's record of it is. I'd like to know what the previous occupants' bills were!

Can you find your rateable value and compare it to STWs records? Ask if you are paying the same as previous tenants.

If water bills no longer fit a property a meter seems to be the only option.
[PDF]Rateable values

Richmc

Tell them you want to go to assessed charge refuse to pay their rateable charge, they can't cut you off by law just tell them you won't pay a penny till they swap you to assessed charge, I did this with Southwest water and they swapped it within a week.
When you know what the assessed rate is then you can decide if it's worth going over to a meter or not, in my case not, but then I do have a 1/3 acre veg patch.

Cardew

Richmc wrote: »

Tell them you want to go to assessed charge refuse to pay their rateable charge, they can't cut you off by law just tell them you won't pay a penny till they swap you to assessed charge, I did this with Southwest water and they swapped it within a week.
When you know what the assessed rate is then you can decide if it's worth going over to a meter or not, in my case not, but then I do have a 1/3 acre veg patch.

You can only get an assessed rate when a meter cannot be fitted. From https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/globalassets/documents/household_charges_scheme_2017-18.pdf

Assessed charges
for
domestic
customers
4.28
Assessed Charges for water and sewerage services will be offered where a
domestic
customer has applied for a meter but the cost of installing a meter would be unreasonable or
9
it would not be practical to install a meter and where no agreement has been made for a
single meter to serve more than one property (see
4.30).

If you could 'demand' an assessed rate most people would opt for that option.