Thames Water break the bank!

Minskette

Hello forumites,

I have been paying my Thames Water bills diligently every 6 months, with around £120 per six months.  I live in a small flat in London, single occupancy, so I have just paid it.  However it seems that these were all estimated bills, and this month they took a meter reading and my bill is £935 for six months!!!

Apparently they haven't read the meter (an external one in the ground, not in my flat - I didn't even know where it was) since 2019.  I understand there was a pandemic after that, but measuring the meter ever 5 years is surely too long???

I did call them up and they put me on a payment plan of £112 per month for the next 12 months, but that is quite an unexpected killer.  A few friends have said that 5 years is way too long and I should take it further as it is their issue for not checking it for so long.  

Is there anything I could / should do, to try and not hemorrhage this money?  Or just pay it (begrudgingly) and move on?

Brie

I would be asking for them to pro rate that charges back over the last 5 years as no doubt the tariff has gone up so you shouldn't be paying so much now for water you used 2 or 3 years back.  

I'm fortunate in having the opposite problem - we've been having estimated readings (didn't even realise!) and then their "smart meter" kicked in and apparently there's something the matter with it and it shows we haven't used any water for nearly 2 years.  So big refund for us and at some future date they will fix the meter.