Severn Trent, septic tank and soakaways so why is my bill so different?

todayisagreatday

I'm getting slightly confused by my bill. We aren't on a meter and we have soakaways/septic tank as we are rural so are only paying for freshwater. I can see our rateable value, tarrif charge and fixed charge but I struggle to think our bill has gone up from £35.90 to £50.49 a month- almost £15 just for freshwater water.

Our neighbours, all rural same postcode, same council tax band with only paying for freshwater too and neither on a meter have had their bill and are paying a lot less. I'm struggling to work out how to check a properties rateable value so I can compare it with my neighbours because the Valuation Office Agency only let's you check business rates. 

Hoe can I check it's right if there is no way to check your rateable value of the property.  All I have to go on is our council tax and we are all Band D so why is our water bill so different. 

todayisagreatday

Just to add our neighbours pay £367 a year and ours is £555.38. We are in the same band council tax but have no other way of comparing our rateable property value as theirs say rateable value 137 and ours is 227. Where do i find our rateable value as the VOA doesn't list it, only business rates rateable value.

brook_heather

RV bears no relation to council tax band - not sure how you can access a residential RV as the VOA website doesn't provide this.  If you want to save money then you are probably best installing a meter.

MikeJXE

According to my district council they quote 

If you have any queries about your rateable value please contact the Valuation Office on 03000 501501.

PrincessMellie

Your rateable value for your property was set over thirty years ago, often bearing absolutely no resemblance to what your house is like today, and cannot be changed or adjusted. It is irrelevant what your neighbours are on for their rateable value - the water companies have made it clear that RV is a poor way to charge for water but the only fair way is to get a meter and pay for what you use (which is usually less than the fixed rate of RV anyway).

Otherwise, you are locked into an old, archaic system that is functionally useless for anything. Massive properties that were derelict and now  have been renovated can have tiny RV values but nice houses with good services and connections can have large RV values causing high bills. 

Severn Trent say this in their water charges statement - 

A property’s rateable value was originally assessed by the District Valuer on behalf of the Inland Revenue. The value was based on the size of the property, the number of rooms, the amenities available and the overall location. No new rateable values have been set since March 1990 following the introduction of the Community Charge (“Poll Tax”) which has since been replaced by Council Tax. Water companies are still legally entitled to use rateable value as the basis for charges, but we are not able to use Council Tax banding. New properties built since 1990 do not have a rateable value and are metered. If you have a property with rateable values you can apply for a water meter, which could save you money. 

Rateable value properties also tend to over use water because they do not pay for what they use. Often it is a small number of people that ruin it for the rest of us. Get a water meter, trial it for a while and see if it helps. 

Lorian

I am not in Severn Trent but have private sewerage and surface water drains and no water meter. I forget the exact figure but my charges have gone up something like 40% this year. Almost but not quite tempting enough to switch to meter, but I don't waste water.