Severn Trent Price Hike

tallacepaul

Hello

Today I approached Severn Trent about why my water bill was going up 17%.

The reply I got via whatsapp was this;

Full service- combined water and sewage service- is increasing by 14.7% which is around £6 pcm.

I don't know where this site gets its information but it is wrong.

How does a utility company possibly justify that big an increase, being a monopoly in effect,  it is criminal and probably caused by the amount of fines handed out to them. So in fact them getting fined leads to a direct cost to its clients!!!!!!!!

Incredibility annoyed Customer

MikeJXE

I'm with Severn Trent but not been notified of an increase 

Thats usually the problem fining any company it's the customer that pays, where else could it come from and don't say the shareholders as that's not going to happen. 

MattMattMattUK

tallacepaul said:

Hello

Today I approached Severn Trent about why my water bill was going up 17%.

The reply I got via whatsapp was this;

Full service- combined water and sewage service- is increasing by 14.7% which is around £6 pcm.

I don't know where this site gets its information but it is wrong.

How does a utility company possibly justify that big an increase, being a monopoly in effect,  it is criminal and probably caused by the amount of fines handed out to them. So in fact them getting fined leads to a direct cost to its clients!!!!!!!!

Incredibility annoyed Customer

Firstly it is not criminal, making blanket defamatory statements due to lack of understanding is generally unwise. 
Second, finds must come out of profit, not operating costs and operating costs are regulated.
Thirdly, costs are increasing because there has been significant underinvestment in the water supply, we need a lot more treatment plants, reservoirs, rain water capture systems etc. and that has to be funded, it is not possible to fund it from profit because there is simply not enough profit available, margins are slim, 2-4% depending on the supplier. 

Sterlingtimes

This is from my Severn Trent account page: The 14.7% is where there is no water meter.

2024/2025 Changes

The average combined bill (for water and sewerage services) for a household in the Severn Trent area is increasing by 6.5%. This includes all metered and unmetered households. The increase in your bill will probably differ from this average as the amount your bill will increase by also depends on:

the services you receive from us (water and sewerage, water only, or sewerage only),

whether you have a water meter or not,

how much water you’ve used (if you’re on a water meter),

the time of year you receive your bill.

We’ve outlined below increases in typical bills for metered and unmetered customers this is the increase that a customer could see if they stay on the same tariff and (for metered customers) use the same volume of water as last year

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Household charges if you don’t have a water meter

Please be aware the following charges differ depending on the rateable value of your property and where you live:

Full service - combined water and sewerage services - is increasing by 14.7%, which is around £6.00 per month

Water supply charges are increasing by 15.5%

Wastewater (sewerage) treatment charges are increasing by 13.9%   

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Household charges if you have a water meter

A typical metered household bill (full service for combined water and sewerage services) is increasing by 3.9% (around £1.25 per month)

Water supply charges are rising by 4.6%

Charges for wastewater are increasing by 3.2%

claire07

We are with Severn Trent (not on water meter) and last year's was £718.37 and notification of this year's is £813.60. We live in a small 3 bedroom house (only two of us) so I will definitely be looking into a water meter.  We knew the council was putting up the council tax over 10% but didn't anticipate the water company increasing by even more!

macman

claire07 said:

We are with Severn Trent (not on water meter) and last year's was £718.37 and notification of this year's is £813.60. We live in a small 3 bedroom house (only two of us) so I will definitely be looking into a water meter.  We knew the council was putting up the council tax over 10% but didn't anticipate the water company increasing by even more!

Two users in a 3 b/r house will almost certainly save a huge amount by switching to metered billing, so why have you waited so long? If you have lived there a few years, you have potentially wasted thousands.

Rich1976

claire07 said:

We are with Severn Trent (not on water meter) and last year's was £718.37 and notification of this year's is £813.60. We live in a small 3 bedroom house (only two of us) so I will definitely be looking into a water meter.  We knew the council was putting up the council tax over 10% but didn't anticipate the water company increasing by even more!

We live in a 3 bed semi, just the two of us and on a water meter with Severn Trent and last year we paid £497 ( split over 2 bills) so you can save a fortune in your example.

claire07

Thank you both for your advice.  Sadly my OH has had severe ill health the last few years resulting in being housebound and needing frequent baths and laundry requirements.  Also my great escape is the garden in the summer so I presumed (wrongly evidently) that a water meter would not be of benefit as we need to use quite a lot of water but will now look into it after this latest increase.

freesha

claire07 said:

Thank you both for your advice.  Sadly my OH has had severe ill health the last few years resulting in being housebound and needing frequent baths and laundry requirements.  Also my great escape is the garden in the summer so I presumed (wrongly evidently) that a water meter would not be of benefit as we need to use quite a lot of water but will now look into it after this latest increase.

Does he receive PIP, AA or another benefit? Have a look at the WaterSue scheme, where you can be capped on your metered water use due to a medical condition.

Sterlingtimes

Four-bedroom house and four adults. We meter 0.705 cubic metres a day. Heavy laundering, power showers. Annual bill from Severn Trent £1,089.

What_time_is_it

I am also a Severn Trent customer. I'm going to switch my water supply to a different company. The free market is a wonderful thing. Hooray for the wonderful privatised water companies, the magnificent job they do, and the freedom to choose that we have.