WATER METER 16 December 2020 at 11:49AM in Water bills 9 replies 677 views

CoilnM

Can anybody kindly offer some clarification regarding water meters.
We moved into a new property March this year, the property is a new build 3 years old and has a water meter, I have made contact with United Utilities and requested we pay not metered but pay a standard amount as we did in our previous home. UT inform me this can not be so as the meter was fitted and can not revert to any other method of payment. I have explained the meter was not fitted at our request as we are the second owner of the property and do not want a water meter.
As the amount we are paying keeps going up and up can anybody offer any advice.
Any assistance would be most appreciated
Thank you

Mickey666

I don’t think you have any rights in this situation. 
My understanding that owners of unmetered properties can request a meter but that if the metered bills are higher than previous fixed bills then they have the option of reverting to the previous arrangement, although the meter itself would not be removed.  But that’s only for owners of unmetered properties. You bought the property knowing there was a water meter so have implicitly agreed to having a meter.
My previous property did not have a water meter and I paid a fixed amount based on the old ‘rateable value’ of the property.  My current house has a water meter and I now pay far less for water, even though the house occupancy is the same.
Not sure what to advise, other than be careful with your water consumption and not waste it now that it’s being metered.

Dogbyte009

Water meters have been compulsory in new build properties since 1990. Once a property has a meter you can't go back to unmetered billing.

matelodave

As said above, now you've got a meter you can't revert back to the rateable value method of billing and if the house is only a couple of years old then there probably wont be a rateable value allocated to it. (Rateable value with reference to water bills is entirely different to the banding rate allocated for your council tax).
Paying for what you use is a much fairer way than the old "all you can use" method and IMO all houses should be metered.

The only assistance I can offer is to make sure you read the meter yourself every month or so rather than just waiting for a meter reader coming to do it once a year. This has two advantages
1 - you can see how much water you are using and so, be able to do something about reducing your consumption - if you dont measure it you cant control it and it will avoid bill shock when the bill comes in.
2 - you also see if summat is going wrong, like a leak and be able to sort it a lot faster than wondering why you've suddenly received an ginormous bill.

Jayde38

We received a letter from Thames Water a few months back saying “based on your usage if you switched to metered bills then you could save £30 a year”.  We signed up and thought nothing more of it until yesterday when we received our new direct debit schedule for 12 monthly payments of £40.  Previously, we had paid £16 a month. That is an increase of more than 100%.  We tried to switch back but were informed that we couldn’t.  This kind of trickery can’t be legal, can it?

Cardew

Jayde38 said:

We received a letter from Thames Water a few months back saying “based on your usage if you switched to metered bills then you could save £30 a year”.  We signed up and thought nothing more of it until yesterday when we received our new direct debit schedule for 12 monthly payments of £40.  Previously, we had paid £16 a month. That is an increase of more than 100%.  We tried to switch back but were informed that we couldn’t.  This kind of trickery can’t be legal, can it?

Thames Water are fitting compulsory water meters. See:

https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help/water-meters/getting-a-water-meter

'We're fitting compulsory water meters for all our customers, starting in London. When it’s your turn, you’ll get a letter from us telling you we are going to be fitting meters in your area. '

wild666

In 19 months with a water meter I have used on 27.8 cubic meters, as I live by myself the bill is 27% of the pre meter billing and by the end of the second year, May, I expect to have used 32cubic meters in two years that's 16 cubic meters per year. 
If you don't leave taps running and don't turn a tap full-on to get hot water it saves litres of water. Get some items free from your water company or at a small cost, the items are on their site if you look, that can also save you money.

pokora

Keep submitting regular readings and if there is a lot difference between your direct debit and your consumption, call your water supplier to lower your direct debit and get a refund on the credit you built.

Robin9

CoilnM said:

We moved into a new property March this year, the property is a new build 3 years old and has a water meter, I .
As the amount we are paying keeps going up and up can anybody offer any advice.
Any assistance would be most appreciated
Thank you

A little confused here.  I believe water meters are only read twice a year - so how do they keep going up and up.?
Did you read your meter when you moved in ? and have you read it since ?

Cardew

Robin9 said:

CoilnM said:

We moved into a new property March this year, the property is a new build 3 years old and has a water meter, I .
As the amount we are paying keeps going up and up can anybody offer any advice.
Any assistance would be most appreciated
Thank you

A little confused here.  I believe water meters are only read twice a year - so how do they keep going up and up.?
Did you read your meter when you moved in ? and have you read it since ?

I assume the OP is paying by DD and it was initially set too low and thus has been adjusted upwards.

If, as you intimate, the OP didn't give a meter reading when he moved in in March, they could be paying for some of the previous occupant's consumption.