Can you help explain why my water bill in previous county was £14 per month and now is £24 month?

user225688

I am still using yorkshire water in both cases, and my usage is the same, well I certainly do more hand washing now! but I don't think that accounts for a £10 per month increase.

It has been a little hard for me to untangle the figures since my old bills showed quarterly and the new ones show monthly so a little trickier to do like for like prima facie.

I have given an actual read and it is exactly the same as their estimated read so it is not that.

Attached are my bills from previous property and the latest one from current property.

Previous Property:

Current Property:

Talldave

I don't understand your point?
Jul, Aug, Sep 2018 £40.49
Apr, May, Jun 2020 £40.41

Even though prices have increased (inflation??), you've used a bit less so cost has remained the same.

user225688

Talldave said:

I don't understand your point?
Jul, Aug, Sep 2018 £40.49
Apr, May, Jun 2020 £40.41

Even though prices have increased (inflation??), you've used a bit less so cost has remained the same.

But for my latest one the 19 apr to 18th of June is only 2 month? so I am using the same in 2 months as I did in 3 in the previous property no?

The_Fat_Controller

The last bill (current property) shows 3 months standing charge but only 1 month of water use.
In that 1 month you have used as much water as you did in 3 months at the old place, so you usage has tripled.

Robin9

Charges even within the same water supplier vary from area to area. 

user225688

The_Fat_Controller said:

The last bill (current property) shows 3 months standing charge but only 1 month of water use.
In that 1 month you have used as much water as you did in 3 months at the old place, so you usage has tripled.

That sucks. Here is my first from feb - apr, still the same case?



I can't account for 3x times the usage. I have not changed my behavior except as I said the increased handwashing, maybe it adds up? as I am pretty obsessive about it in the past couple of months. Probably do it like 20 times a day. But having said that I can't see how that uses much because I don't leave the water on all the 20 seconds wash time. I turn it on, splash some water, then off and lather and back on again.

Talldave

user225688 said:

Talldave said:

I don't understand your point?
Jul, Aug, Sep 2018 £40.49
Apr, May, Jun 2020 £40.41

Even though prices have increased (inflation??), you've used a bit less so cost has remained the same.

But for my latest one the 19 apr to 18th of June is only 2 month? so I am using the same in 2 months as I did in 3 in the previous property no?

Yes. But I have no idea where your £14 & £24 figures come from. Can you explain? 

Also not sure what a comparison to 2-3 years ago shows?

user225688

Talldave said:

user225688 said:

Talldave said:

I don't understand your point?
Jul, Aug, Sep 2018 £40.49
Apr, May, Jun 2020 £40.41

Even though prices have increased (inflation??), you've used a bit less so cost has remained the same.

But for my latest one the 19 apr to 18th of June is only 2 month? so I am using the same in 2 months as I did in 3 in the previous property no?

Yes. But I have no idea where your £14 & £24 figures come from. Can you explain? 

Also not sure what a comparison to 2-3 years ago shows?

£14 per month: the amount of my direct debit in my previous property.
£24 per month: the amount of the new direct debit I just setup and when I looked they were basing it off of current data ie not a 'general average' of global consumer's usage.

Why would a comparison to 2-3 years ago not be useful when my lifestyle has not changed? It should be almost identical to what I used then except if the price per unit were different, but actual usage should be the same.

The_Fat_Controller

Sorry, I made a mistake.
The billing periods are varying.
The Standing Charges are for 3 months (1/4 - 30/6) in your original post, but only for 7 weeks (11/2 -31/3) in the post at 1055 am
As for actual water use, I was wrong there, the last bill was for 2 months, not 1.
Your latest water reading is an estimate, but it looks like you are using around 3 cubic metres a month at your new place as compared to just over 2 per month at your old place.
Nothing looks wrong to me.

The_Fat_Controller

It looks like your water company have overestimated your usage and set the DD too high.
Using the figures you have given for the new place, I reckon your quarterly bills should be between £50 and £55, so the DD should be £17/18 per month.
They may have set it high if you are already in arrears.

Talldave

user225688 said:

Talldave said:

user225688 said:

Talldave said:

I don't understand your point?
Jul, Aug, Sep 2018 £40.49
Apr, May, Jun 2020 £40.41

Even though prices have increased (inflation??), you've used a bit less so cost has remained the same.

But for my latest one the 19 apr to 18th of June is only 2 month? so I am using the same in 2 months as I did in 3 in the previous property no?

Yes. But I have no idea where your £14 & £24 figures come from. Can you explain? 

Also not sure what a comparison to 2-3 years ago shows?

£14 per month: the amount of my direct debit in my previous property.
£24 per month: the amount of the new direct debit I just setup and when I looked they were basing it off of current data ie not a 'general average' of global consumer's usage.

Why would a comparison to 2-3 years ago not be useful when my lifestyle has not changed? It should be almost identical to what I used then except if the price per unit were different, but actual usage should be the same.

Ok, thread title says bill has increased from £14 to £24. It hasn't.  Your direct debit is higher but that's just you filling a pot of money to cover the bills.

Your annual spend to Sep 2018 was £149. You haven't given us actual consumption figures for your current property so we have no idea what the annual bill will be. It will be more because the prices have gone up. But will it reach the £288 you're being asked to pay? Very unlikely. 

In my experience, water companies like you to "get ahead" of the bills so that you're in credit. This is why they have set you at £24, so that after a year you've already paid half the next year - money in their bank account. When we moved to our current house, Thames Water offered a bill for the whole year, which I've paid in advance - job done, thanks to no meter being fitted!