Southern water increased DD without notification

gingerpett

Hi all.
I just had a 30% increase in my bill, without warning. When I phoned the (very snotty) woman said that because I signed up for online bills it was my responsibility to log in and check online each month to see if my bill had increased. My bill has stayed the same for three years, I only saw it had gone up on my bank statement this month. I logged in and saw that there was just the DD amount - there's nothing to say that it had increased, I got no warning. Is this legal? Can they really be said to have "notified" me if there was no explicit warning?

elsien

 Are you on a water meter or on rateable value? 

Different water company, but I had an email back in February telling me my yearly bill was coming in and asking me to go online and check it. On mine that shows the annual bill (because I’m not metered) and the monthly direct debit.
Did you not get anything like that? 

April is generally the time for both council tax and water to go up, so an increase shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise.

TadleyBaggie

If you are non-metered, and the water is based on rateable value, I'm surprised you have had no increases for the last few years. Mine has always gone up each year, however at least a month before the first payment is due I have had a letter detailing the payments.

born_again

gingerpett said:

Hi all.
I just had a 30% increase in my bill, without warning. When I phoned the (very snotty) woman said that because I signed up for online bills it was my responsibility to log in and check online each month to see if my bill had increased. My bill has stayed the same for three years, I only saw it had gone up on my bank statement this month. I logged in and saw that there was just the DD amount - there's nothing to say that it had increased, I got no warning. Is this legal? Can they really be said to have "notified" me if there was no explicit warning?

So long as they have given the notice required for a DD increase (10 days I think) Which if you have online billing then, as they said it is up to you to keep checking.
Then it is legal.

Even if they did not give the correct notice period. While you could claim under the Direct Debit Guarantee. You would still owe the money. Could incur a bounced DD charge (often £30) & a protentional missed payment record on your credit history. Maybe even them passing debt to a debt collector.

So you would have to balance out if it is worth the trouble, just to prove a point.

[Deleted User]

I am with Severn Trent Water and a change of monthly DD is pre-notified in each six month statement. The onus is on me to look at the statement. In truth, as others have suggested, your monthly DD amount is arguably irrelevant: it is just money paid on account from which actual charges for water used are deducted.