United Utilities Rate Based Bill

markgerrard

Hi,

I've just received a bill from United Utilities for ~£1,128, up from ~£800 last year. My house doesn’t have a water meter, so they base charges on rateable value (RV), which they list as £238. 

Does this mean they believe my house had a £238,000 RV in 1990? That seems incorrect, as all houses on my street (including mine) are Council Tax Band C (£52,001–£68,000 in 1990), suggesting the RV should be at most £68.

I extended my house in 2015, but I understand Council Tax banding may only changes on sale, which hasn’t happened.

United Utilities offers assessed charges for unmetered properties—£687.71 (semi-detached) and £756.28 (detached)—so I’m unhappy paying £1,128.

They claim RVs can't be changed, but shouldn’t there be a link between Council Tax bands and water company RVs? If they've misapplied my RV for the last 10 years, they may owe me thousands, which I’ll pursue via small claims if necessary. Am I off track here?

Thanks  Mark

GingerTim

You should probably get a water meter.

QrizB

Does this mean they believe my house had a £238,000 RV in 1990?

No.

Rateable value was notionally what the property would have been rented for, annually. So the Valuation Office in 1973 thought your house would have rented for £238 a year.

And not in 1990; in 1973, if this Wikipedia article is correct.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rates_in_the_United_Kingdom

markgerrard said:

They claim RVs can't be changed, but shouldn’t there be a link between Council Tax bands and water company RVs?

There is no relationship between rateable value and council tax banding.

GingerTim said:

You should probably get a water meter.

You really should.

pseudodox

I am in the United Utilities area.  Moved into my current house in 2005 and back then I was billed for water on the rateable value (I now have no idea what it was) and for my first 12 months was charged just under £600.  I got a water meter fitted and my annual usage bills have slowly risen from £120 in 2007 to just under £200 for the past year.  As the rise due this April will be substantial having a meter is a no brainer for me as a single household.  Even a family, especially in a high rateable value house, should be better off if you are careful not to waste water.

notanoob

I have a small one bed flat in a United Utilities area, it’s a second home (there’s a good reason why it was bought 16 years ago), and is used about 10 days a month.

I have been informed that from April I will be paying double council tax. That’s bad enough but now my water bill has come in and it’s going from £36 a month to £49. That’s going to work out at £5 a day when I’m there, would be cheaper to buy bottled water!

I’m now wondering whether, in view of the OP above, they have assessed it on twice the actual Band A c/tax.  I guess I’m going to have to give them a call.

I know that some blocks of flats cannot have a meter.  Will start by asking them what the situation is in this building which is a converted Victorian property.

GingerTim

notanoob said:

I have a small one bed flat in a United Utilities area, it’s a second home (there’s a good reason why it was bought 16 years ago), and is used about 10 days a month.

I have been informed that from April I will be paying double council tax. That’s bad enough but now my water bill has come in and it’s going from £36 a month to £49. That’s going to work out at £5 a day when I’m there, would be cheaper to buy bottled water!

I’m now wondering whether, in view of the OP above, they have assessed it on twice the actual Band A c/tax.  I guess I’m going to have to give them a call.

I know that some blocks of flats cannot have a meter.  Will start by asking them what the situation is in this building which is a converted Victorian property.

As @QrizB notes above, there isn't a relationship between rateable value and council tax banding.

If you ask for a water meter and they can't fit it you will be put on assessed rates, which are based upon the size of the property and the number of people living in it.