Fixed charges on my water bill - increased by 46% this year!

What_time_is_it

Got my water bill today and it has inceased by 16.25%. Ouch.

When I check the breakdown I can see that the increase in the fixed (standing charges) for both water and sewage has increased by just over 46%! 

I guess it costs a lot of money to pump loads of raw sewage into our rivers.

mabelcollie

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

MattMattMattUK

mabelcollie said:

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

To cover the costs of upgrading the infrastructure, building new treatment plants, reservoirs, etc. as well as general inflation. 

What_time_is_it

MattMattMattUK said:

mabelcollie said:

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

To cover the costs of upgrading the infrastructure, building new treatment plants, reservoirs, etc. as well as general inflation. 

I get what you are saying, but inflation has been dropping over the past 12 months as predicted, and the requirement to upgrade infrastructure has been known for some time. A 46% increase in a single year can only mean one of the two below scenarios in the boardroom:

1. The finance people at Severn Trent are incompetent - they did not realise, or chose not to respond to, the requirement to upgrade facilities and/or the pressures of inflation.
or
2. The finance people at Severn Trent are corrupt - they were fully aware of the issues, but decided not to invest during previous years, and to continue to pay large dividends to shareholders instead. 

Either way, they can get stuffed.

MattMattMattUK

What_time_is_it said:

MattMattMattUK said:

mabelcollie said:

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

To cover the costs of upgrading the infrastructure, building new treatment plants, reservoirs, etc. as well as general inflation. 

I get what you are saying, but inflation has been dropping over the past 12 months as predicted, and the requirement to upgrade infrastructure has been known for some time. A 46% increase in a single year

It is not a 46% increase in all costs though, it is just in one element, due to a rebalancing of costs between fixed and variable charges, the actual cost increase is 7.2%.

What_time_is_it said:
can only mean one of the two below scenarios in the boardroom:

1. The finance people at Severn Trent are incompetent - they did not realise, or chose not to respond to, the requirement to upgrade facilities and/or the pressures of inflation.

They are fully aware, but the pressures to invest are now higher, they are mandated by Ofwat and any increases are signed off by Ofwat, to be spent on specific things, like infrastructure. 

What_time_is_it said:

or
2. The finance people at Severn Trent are corrupt - they were fully aware of the issues, but decided not to invest during previous years, and to continue to pay large dividends to shareholders instead. 

Firstly claiming something is corruption because you fail to understand is generally unwise, it is also defamation. Secondly they have invested in previous years, but are again limited in what they can invest. They have also not paid large dividends in the past and to not currently pay large dividends, their dividend rates are so low that it is pretty much only institutional investors investing in very safe, but low return sectors that hold a lot of share in the water supply companies. One would currently get a better rate of return from a savings account and better again by a basic FTSE tracker. 

What_time_is_it said:

Either way, they can get stuffed.

Get yourself disconnected then, problem solved, then you will not have to pay them anything. 

What_time_is_it

MattMattMattUK said:

What_time_is_it said:

MattMattMattUK said:

mabelcollie said:

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

To cover the costs of upgrading the infrastructure, building new treatment plants, reservoirs, etc. as well as general inflation. 

I get what you are saying, but inflation has been dropping over the past 12 months as predicted, and the requirement to upgrade infrastructure has been known for some time. A 46% increase in a single year

It is not a 46% increase in all costs though, it is just in one element, due to a rebalancing of costs between fixed and variable charges, the actual cost increase is 7.2%.

What_time_is_it said:
can only mean one of the two below scenarios in the boardroom:

1. The finance people at Severn Trent are incompetent - they did not realise, or chose not to respond to, the requirement to upgrade facilities and/or the pressures of inflation.

They are fully aware, but the pressures to invest are now higher, they are mandated by Ofwat and any increases are signed off by Ofwat, to be spent on specific things, like infrastructure. 

What_time_is_it said:

or
2. The finance people at Severn Trent are corrupt - they were fully aware of the issues, but decided not to invest during previous years, and to continue to pay large dividends to shareholders instead. 

Firstly claiming something is corruption because you fail to understand is generally unwise, it is also defamation. Secondly they have invested in previous years, but are again limited in what they can invest. They have also not paid large dividends in the past and to not currently pay large dividends, their dividend rates are so low that it is pretty much only institutional investors investing in very safe, but low return sectors that hold a lot of share in the water supply companies. One would currently get a better rate of return from a savings account and better again by a basic FTSE tracker. 

What_time_is_it said:

Either way, they can get stuffed.

Get yourself disconnected then, problem solved, then you will not have to pay them anything. 

@mattmatt@MattMattMattUK
Not sure how you come to the conclusion that "the actual cost increase" is 7.2%. I have a calculator. My numbers are that my overall bill has gone up by 16.25%. The standing order element of my bill has gone up by 46%. In one year. Clearly I must "fail to understand". I must be really thick.

Anyway, three cheers for the water companies. They do a marvellous job. 
Hip hip...

MattMattMattUK

What_time_is_it said:

MattMattMattUK said:

What_time_is_it said:

MattMattMattUK said:

mabelcollie said:

I feel your pain! I've just had mine through today and have also been issued the 46% price increase on the fixed charge. 
Overall bill up by £105.66. No idea how they can justify this!

To cover the costs of upgrading the infrastructure, building new treatment plants, reservoirs, etc. as well as general inflation. 

I get what you are saying, but inflation has been dropping over the past 12 months as predicted, and the requirement to upgrade infrastructure has been known for some time. A 46% increase in a single year

It is not a 46% increase in all costs though, it is just in one element, due to a rebalancing of costs between fixed and variable charges, the actual cost increase is 7.2%.

What_time_is_it said:
can only mean one of the two below scenarios in the boardroom:

1. The finance people at Severn Trent are incompetent - they did not realise, or chose not to respond to, the requirement to upgrade facilities and/or the pressures of inflation.

They are fully aware, but the pressures to invest are now higher, they are mandated by Ofwat and any increases are signed off by Ofwat, to be spent on specific things, like infrastructure. 

What_time_is_it said:

or
2. The finance people at Severn Trent are corrupt - they were fully aware of the issues, but decided not to invest during previous years, and to continue to pay large dividends to shareholders instead. 

Firstly claiming something is corruption because you fail to understand is generally unwise, it is also defamation. Secondly they have invested in previous years, but are again limited in what they can invest. They have also not paid large dividends in the past and to not currently pay large dividends, their dividend rates are so low that it is pretty much only institutional investors investing in very safe, but low return sectors that hold a lot of share in the water supply companies. One would currently get a better rate of return from a savings account and better again by a basic FTSE tracker. 

What_time_is_it said:

Either way, they can get stuffed.

Get yourself disconnected then, problem solved, then you will not have to pay them anything. 

@mattmatt@MattMattMattUK
Not sure how you come to the conclusion that "the actual cost increase" is 7.2%. 

That is the average rise across all users, as approved by Ofwat, the changes will impact some users differently due to a higher increase in standing charges and a lower increase in unit costs. 

What_time_is_it said:
I have a calculator. My numbers are that my overall bill has gone up by 16.25%. The standing order element of my bill has gone up by 46%. In one year.

You seem to want to throw around the percentages to try and present it as the whole bill having gone up by 46%, not just one component of it. If your personal bill is going to go up by 16.25% that must mean that you are using very little water as the average across all users is 7.2%, with a higher increase in the standing charge and a lower increase in unit costs.

What_time_is_it said:
Clearly I must "fail to understand". I must be really thick.

Ok.

What_time_is_it said:

Anyway, three cheers for the water companies. They do a marvellous job. 
Hip hip...

Ah, an attempt at sarcasm. I think you will find very few people who think that the water suppliers are doing a marvellous job, personally I do not think the C-suite should be entitled to any bonuses whilst they are still dumping sewage and I think that the penalties imposed should be higher (and legally, these have to come out of their regulated profit, they are not allowed to be included in costs, neither can they be offset against tax). I however also recognise that we do need to invest in our water supply and sewage processing and the only way to fund that is to increase bills. It should have started twenty years ago, but in the absence of a time machine starting now is the best option. The same with fixing education, healthcare, roads, policing, pensions etc. we as a nation have underinvested for years, the bottom two thirds of earners in the UK have the lowest rate of income taxation in the EU, we will need to increase taxes to fix the problems that previous generations created, not cut them. 

What_time_is_it

You seem to want to throw around the percentages to try and present it as the whole bill having gone up by 46%, not just one component of it. If your personal bill is going to go up by 16.25% that must mean that you are using very little water as the average across all users is 7.2%, with a higher increase in the standing charge and a lower increase in unit costs.

I think I have been very clear about the percentage increase to my overall bill and the fixed charge elements within it. Stating a falsehood, claiming to know my motivation, and then having a guess at my water usage BECAUSE YOU FAIL TO UNDERSTAND IS GENERALLY UNWISE.

I do actually agree with you about investment and taxation. I find your patronising tone somewhat less agreeable.

horsewithnoname

My water rates have gone up nearly £100. Severn Trent again. Should still be in public ownership 😡

What_time_is_it

horsewithnoname said:

My water rates have gone up nearly £100. Severn Trent again. Should still be in public ownership 😡

Agreed. Rest assured that some of us are just as angry about this as you are.