Water bills up or down?

Yellowman

Water bills up?
Feb 2024:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68172008
'Water bills to rise above inflation in April'

..... or water bills down?
Sep 2023:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66922070
'Water firms forced to pay back customers for poor performance'

Confused.

QrizB

All of the above.

Bills are up, but not by quite as much as they would otherwise have been.

Josamed16

Just received a bill from Thames Water and it has increased by 12% or 3 times inflation rate. Seems to be a lot higher than this site or ofwat suggested would be the case. How can this be allowed to continue as it is an utter scandal for a monoploy to essentially do what it wants!

MattMattMattUK

Josamed16 said:

Just received a bill from Thames Water and it has increased by 12% or 3 times inflation rate. Seems to be a lot higher than this site or ofwat suggested would be the case. How can this be allowed to continue as it is an utter scandal for a monoploy to essentially do what it wants!

Thames water say "On average our charges will go up by 12.3% on 1 April 2024". That is approved by Ofwat, based on increases in costs and the need for investment, they have also had their allowable profit margin reduced. 

Josamed16

Ofwat is not fit for purpose. Thames Water has appointed individuals who worked for Ofwat so there is an obvious conflict of interest there for a start. Im sorry but 3x inflation rate is excessive

MattMattMattUK

Josamed16 said:

Ofwat is not fit for purpose. Thames Water has appointed individuals who worked for Ofwat so there is an obvious conflict of interest there for a start. Im sorry but 3x inflation rate is excessive

If you took the time to understand what the increase is for then you would realise that it is not excessive, but inadequate. The rate of inflation is one component that is accounted for in the cost, however the majority of the increase is to go towards investment in the network, investment which has been inadequate for around a hundred years.

AnnikaJuarez

Recently got mine. It also increased by 12%, which is way too high and unexpected.
Sadly, I finally found time, money, and a good plumber who fixed all the leaking pipes. I've read an article on how fixing leaking pipes can save you money on water in the long run. Besides, the house will be less damaged.
But now what we have. Higher rates for water.

Mon_Save_Discuss

Water Bills are sky high!

I've received bills of near £2000, £600 for half a year from Severn Trent Water.

How an earth under any circumstances can you receive bills this high - We as a family, try to save as much water as possible. It's not right we allow such a structure to exist.

A monopoly structure is allowed in this country where these water companies don't have any competition. You just have to look at the huge profits these companies are generating at the general public's expense.

Also, how is that when I requested my water meter be removed I got a blanklet NO - Why is that Severn Trent Water has so much control?

It's another sign of broken Britain, but yet those in power don't want to do anything about this.

How can these water monopolies ever be fair with having consumer interests in mind. You might be thinking OFWAT.

Well read this article - As I'm new to this forum (I'm not allowed to put links in), search 'OFWAT Guardian'

Well, what do make of that article? And its what we just know about.

In my view this totally unacceptable structure should be dismantled so fairer water charges are available to everyone - It's a right to have clean, safe water at a fair price. The bills I'm now receiving from Severn Trent are extortinate in my opinion.

I really thinks its time to start talking to those in power such as MPs, councillors of how unfair this structure is. It needs to be dismantled.

Swipe

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

Water Bills are sky high!

I've received bills of near £2000, £600 for half a year from Severn Trent Water.

Sounds like you may have a leak.

MattMattMattUK

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

Water Bills are sky high!

I've received bills of near £2000, £600 for half a year from Severn Trent Water.

You either have a water leak, or you use a horrific amount of water. Possibly you had estimate reads in the past and are now catching up due to those estimates not covering your high usage. 

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

How an earth under any circumstances can you receive bills this high - We as a family, try to save as much water as possible. 

What is your usage in m3? Your cost would indicate you are using the equivalent of seven people's average usage every year. 

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

It's not right we allow such a structure to exist.

A monopoly structure is allowed in this country where these water companies don't have any competition. You just have to look at the huge profits these companies are generating at the general public's expense.

A structure where one has to pay for what one uses? They companies are not generating huge profits, their profit per customer is around £35, it is merely the scale of their operation that makes them look large. 

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

Also, how is that when I requested my water meter be removed I got a blanklet NO - Why is that Severn Trent Water has so much control?

They have too much control, because you are being made to pay for what you use? The water meter is there so that people pay for what they use, not so that they can opt out and under pay for personal gain.

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

It's another sign of broken Britain, but yet those in power don't want to do anything about this.

Britain is broken because too many people expect someone else to pay, too many people expect someone else to pick up the bill, to many people do not want to contribute to society, not because someone is billed for the water that they use.

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

How can these water monopolies ever be fair with having consumer interests in mind. You might be thinking OFWAT.

Just because a monopoly exists does not mean that pricing is unfair.

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

Well read this article - As I'm new to this forum (I'm not allowed to put links in), search 'OFWAT Guardian'

Well, what do make of that article? And its what we just know about.

If you mean the various articles about Ofwat on the Guardian, some have valid criticisms, others are ill-informed opinion pieces pandering to a segment of the public who hate all things profit. 

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

In my view this totally unacceptable structure should be dismantled so fairer water charges are available to everyone - It's a right to have clean, safe water at a fair price. The bills I'm now receiving from Severn Trent are extortinate in my opinion.

When you say "fairer", do you mean you pay less and are subsidised by others, because that seems to be the direction of travel in your post. The profit margin is small, the only reason you have high bills is because you use a lot of water and rightly have to pay for that. 

Mon_Save_Discuss said:

I really thinks its time to start talking to those in power such as MPs, councillors of how unfair this structure is. It needs to be dismantled.

What is "unfair" is expecting someone else to pay, what is unfair is expecting other people to subsidise you. Dismantling the water supply system would not be a good idea, I like potable water flowing from my taps.

Bexmac

I received my bill and mines a bit more complicated, Essex & Suffolk water are now taking on sewage so combining costs, however my old bills were £12 for water and &14 for sewage, but my new bill is £39!!!! A 33.3% increase???? Seems like a lot!