Southern water re- issued new bill after 4 years !

simplyredhead

I have been re- issued four new bills for my water supply , covering the four years i have lived in my , it was new when i moved in . 
Problem is when i logged into my online account, the bills from the previous four years have disappeared, so i cannot check or compare supply usage etc , or even if the meter was read . Apart from asking for the old bills, it seems a bit dodgy from southern water that they have deleted the other bills and all it says why new bills have been issued is 

    Here's your latest bill. This bill replaces the bill issued on 19 Jun 2023. The bill was reissued due to amendments to the basis of charges.      


What does this mean ? anyone got any ideas please ? 

Thanks 

QrizB

I know it's too late now, but you shouldn't rely on old bills being available from your supplier's website. Always download them.

What exactly does the new bill say? Does it agree with your water meter readings, and with whatever your meter reads today?

Do you owe Southern Water more money than before?

simplyredhead

Hi , thanks for your comments, i wasn't relying on the bills , i was expecting the bills to be there ! lol 

I have not submitted any meter readings, they have as i say re - issued the bills , prior to this i was in credit for the last four years , but do not have anything to compare it with , do not know if they were estimated or not ? 

Main issue is , the charges have increased over the last four years and now am in debit of over £500 ! 

Difficult to read the meter as it is so far under ground , but got a photo and it appears the meter readings add up to the bill 

 

Brie

You could do a subject access request for the previous bills.  As this should include anything to do with your account it should also include the basis for the charges that were changed.  If you don't get satisfaction from that then log a complaint.

QrizB

simplyredhead said:

I have not submitted any meter readings, they have as i say re - issued the bills , prior to this i was in credit for the last four years , but do not have anything to compare it with , do not know if they were estimated or not ?

If the property was new when you moved in, the water meter should have been reading zero (more or less). Is zero the starting point of the new bills?

It's possible that they were esimating your volume charges until now, but have recently read your meter and have recalculated. This is perfectly normal.

Do the new bills show any actual meter readings other than the starting and finishing ones?

simplyredhead said:

Main issue is , the charges have increased over the last four years and now am in debit of over £500 !

There's a published rate for daily charges and volume charges. If you'be been charged the daily rate for four years, and the relevant volume charges for each year, your current bill is likely to be right.

simplyredhead said:

Difficult to read the meter as it is so far under ground , but got a photo and it appears the meter readings add up to the bill

That is good, and another reason to think that the new bills might be correct, the previous ones having been estimated.

I read my water meter once or twice a year, for my own records.