Severn Trent 2025/26 Increase

mmmmikey

e_boz said:

I live in a 4 bed house, 2 occupants, my DD has risen from £34.36 to £59.45 a month - can this be correct?

Yes, it could be correct. Your DD is an estimate of what you'll use on average and like all estimates it can sometimes be wrong. If, for example you paid £34 per month last year but actually used £42 per month on average, then this year's payment would need to go up to £42 per month to cover this year's use, plus an additional £8 per month to pay off what you underpaid last year. So even without price increases this year's payment would be £50 per month. If you add a price increase on to that you could easily find yourself paying £59 per month.

I hope this makes sense?

So in answer to your question your new DD certainly could be correct, although of course it's always possible that there's been an error somewhere.

There are also other possibilities, for example sometimes the timing of DD reviews means you end up paying auch higher amount for a few months before the payment drops down again.

Best thing to do is to call your water supplier and ask them to explain why it's gone up so much.

Hope this helps, Mike

RelievedSheff

Just received our latest ST bill and our monthly payment has gone up from £30 to £36 so compared to some on here it hasn't gone up much.

This is for a metered 3 bed "new build" detached with 2 adults and a motorhome that we fill up the water tank and wash.

DesperateDan70

Year after year Severn Trent appear to get away with blatant lies about the annual increase. This year they claim a 21% increase. For me it is a 33% increase. Metered supply has increased by 43.3%, waste water by 15.6%, fresh water standing charge by 35.3% and sewage standing charge by 49.6%. Overall , based on usage of 47m3 over 6 months this is a 33% increase. I appreciate that the infrastructure needs Investment and I accept that we all have to contribute but I cannot accept being lied to. Reading through some of the other comments it appears that unmetered accounts have smaller increases. We are always being told to be careful with water usage so why punish customers with water meters with higher costs? I really don't see the point of the regulator OFWAT, they just allow the water companies to pollute our waterways and appear to have no control over what they charge us.

MattMattMattUK

DesperateDan70 said:

Year after year Severn Trent appear to get away with blatant lies about the annual increase. This year they claim a 21% increase. For me it is a 33% increase. Metered supply has increased by 43.3%, waste water by 15.6%, fresh water standing charge by 35.3% and sewage standing charge by 49.6%. Overall , based on usage of 47m3 over 6 months this is a 33% increase. I appreciate that the infrastructure needs Investment and I accept that we all have to contribute but I cannot accept being lied to. 

You are not being lied to. The headline figure is the average across all users, metered and unmetered, with differing usage, in different properties.

DesperateDan70 said:

Reading through some of the other comments it appears that unmetered accounts have smaller increases. 

Unmetered accounts have larger increases rather than smaller increases.

DesperateDan70 said:

We are always being told to be careful with water usage so why punish customers with water meters with higher costs?

You are not being punished. Unless one wastes a huge amount of water the metered is cheaper than unmetered and the increase is higher for unmetered customers.

DesperateDan70 said:

I really don't see the point of the regulator OFWAT, they just allow the water companies to pollute our waterways and appear to have no control over what they charge us.

Ofwat have full control of what the suppliers charge consumers. They have a difficult task to try and balance different demands. The network needs huge investment, tens of billions of pounds need to be put into increased maintenance as well as upgrades over the next decade, that has to be paid for. Consumer energy prices have been far too low for fifty years and there has been minimal investment, that has culminated in the need for significant expenditure over the next decade and bills have to rise to pay for that. The sewerage dumping will not stop without upgrades to facilities and that is going to cost billions, it cannot be fixed without increases in bill, hence Ofwat agreeing increases significantly ahead of inflation for the next five years already and very likely seeing bills more than double over the next decade in real terms.

mmmmikey

squartzz said:

mmmmikey said:

quartzz said:

DesperateDan70 said:

Those CEO Mercedes petrol tanks aren't gonna fill themselves

Unfortunately this kind of comment is symptomatic of why we find ourselves in the situation we're in. Rather than focus on the real issue of changing demand for water as the housing stock increases, changes in weather patterns and an aging infrastructure there has been a focus on executive renumeration which is in line with executive renumeration in other organisations and only accounts for an almost trivial percentage of the typical bill.

A somewhat depressing sign of the times. We've become so obsessed with looking for someone to blame we haven't done anything like enough to address the underlying issues preferring instead just to have a good old British whinge....

What would you prefer the consumer response to be? For an average individual household, what is your preferred method of behaviour and future realistic pro-active action? Post your ideas of what you would like peoples response to be.

(you can interpret my comment using the word obsessed, if you want. other words are available at thesaurus.com. as mentioned I wouldn't want to make you depressed, or even somewhat depressed)

I'm sure that anyone reading this would be surprised that the suggestion of "imbalanced private renumeration" even goes through anyones mind

Hi, you start with what, IMHO, is a perfectly fair and reasonable question. Off the top of my head, here are a few suggestions as to the personal actions individuals can take:

1. Look to what you can do to reduce your own costs and water consumption. There are lots of good suggestions on how to go about this on the water companies' websites. Make sure you've taken advantage of any water saving aids they've offered, such as shower timers and water flow reducing devices. And if you've already got this nailed, help to encourage families, friends, etc. to do the same. The less water we use the less investment is needed to sustain it so any saving you make here doesn't just benefit you benefits everyone.

2. Think about how you use energy, the products you buy and the effect it has on the environment. Obviously this isn't an immediate one and running a more efficient car or using locally produced food, for example, isn't going to bring your water bill down straight away. But the overwhelming balance of scientific opinion is that human activity is changing weather patterns. An inevitable consequence this is that the infrastructure we need for water supply is going to change too. It's really a question of doing your bit without complaining, accepting that this won't have an immediate benefit and encouraging others to do the same. No need to obsess about it, if we all just think of one "greener" thing we can do and actually do it that will be a good start.

3. Where planning proposals are made for new water or energy infrastructure in your area, don't let the local NIMBYs shout them down. Get involved in the planning process via your local council and actively support the proposals. Encourage others to do the same. Don't let progress be held up by a minority of whinging extremists.

4. When you cast your vote at the next local or national election, think beyond things like WFPs and tax cuts. Look for candidates that support investment in infrastructure (be it water or energy) and support those candidates. Accept that is going to mean higher taxes and/or bills while we (a) start to pay off the debt that we will otherwise leave to future generations, and (b) make up for the last few decades of chronic underinvestment.

As I said, this is just a few thoughts of the top of my head. No need to be silly about it and start gluing yourself to the roof of a tube train, but there is plenty we can all do that does, can and will make a difference.

If anyone is not inclined to or struggles to do anything themselves a good start would be to stop complaining about the cost when others do.

Finally, please, let's keep this friendly and non-political.....

EDIT - my earlier response to your post wasn't intended to be a dig at you personally, and I accept your post may have been made tongue in cheek. Sorry if any offense was caused. It was just a general reflection of my view on the matter

quartzz

MattMattMattUK said:

For sure. I wouldn't want to post something someone disapproved of. I hope that is amicable enough rather than  tantrums and toys being thrown out of the pram.

There's an old chinese saying. Ne'er a truer word said in jest. It's going round on tiktok at the moment, that's why there are letters missing.

And it is logical not to express displeasure at something which the average public has absolutely no control over (said CEO)


-Edit-

I have no desire to initiate a new general dialogue hence the edit, but it's apparent some of the surrounding post information is inaccurate.

For previous seen or unseen posts I also express deep regret for any offence caused, and action that was taken by the offended parties upon said offence. Clearly, causing offence is the last thing I wish to do.

As per general discussion, it becomes apparent that the suggestion of "this is about company profits" (referenced to in comic/flippant effect re "CEO"), is not misleading information, and the general opinion seems to be that the money has not been re invested where it is "sorely needed", as has been suggested by the learn-ed posts here.

This is relevant, to stop people from having misleading information - such as the suggestion that price hikes are for (much needed) reinvestment, when the general consensus from many sources indicates it is, in fact, for the CEO wealth.

quartzz

mmmmikey said:

A somewhat depressing sign of the times. We've become so obsessed with looking for someone to blame we haven't done anything like enough to address the underlying issues preferring instead just to have a good old British whinge....

Finally, please, let's keep this friendly and non-political.....

EDIT - my earlier response to your post wasn't intended to be a dig at you personally, and I accept your post may have been made tongue in cheek. Sorry if any offense was caused. It was just a general reflection of my view on the matter

Indeed, & to fill up four characters, of course

buffalito

I'm with Severn Trent and the bill has gone up 43% overall from £140 pa to about 200 pa. I on a metered connection in a two bedroom terraced - Band A property. Pretty disgusting. If you stop your direct debit they just send you a bill every six months. This will then affect their cashflow so hopefully we can then take it back into public ownership and stop this nonsense.

booneruk

buffalito said:

 If you stop your direct debit they just send you a bill every six months. This will then affect their cashflow so hopefully we can then take it back into public ownership and stop this nonsense.

And in the real world, the rest of us will appreciate that investment is sorely needed and that this will only come from higher bills - whether the water firm is publicly or privately owned. This increase isn't going straight into CEO's pockets.

I'd say clean water and sewerage for 2 people for under £17 a month is still quite a deal.

I'd refer you to the last paragraph of MattMattMatt's post a few posts up from here.

canaryinthemine

Metered with Severn Trent Zone 1.

 £1.614 cubic meter 2023/24                    Standing Charge £33.95 p.a.
 £1.820 cubic meter 2024/25 (+12.76%). Standing Charge £37.26 p.a.(+9.7%)
 £2.608 cubic meter 2025/26 (+43.30%)  Standing Charge £50.17 p.a. (+34.6%)

Thank you OFWAT!