High Water Rates - pension credit and can you get money back?

JohnAby

Hello, my sister and I are trying to help my 85-year-old mum sort out her lot - she's always refused to let us see her bills before but hasn't known what they are for years because she's blind in one eye and half blind in the other. We discovered she's paying £108 a month water rates (I pay £28 a month on a meter for a family of four). My sister rang United Utilities to ask them if there was any way of it being reduced, and he suggested either changing to a meter or, probably even better, if she gets pension credit to go down that route. We are now trying to find out if she's entitled to pension credit, but I was wondering, whichever is decided, is she entitled to money back if it's proven she (a) could have been on pension credit for a while, or (b) if a meter proves that she's been paying way over the odds. The guy on the phone didn't "think" so. When asked why they've let an old lady pay such a high bill without asking her if she wants to switch to a meter or go on pension credit, he said she should have looked at the tiny print on the back. Big companies always seem to such money out of the most vulnerable.   

Green_hopeful

There will be a team for vulnerable customers. They should be more helpful with benefits and vulnerabilities. Perhaps try them. I am not sure £108 a month is even possible in a normal house. Are you sure she is paying monthly and not quarterly or six monthly. If it is correctly charged I don’t think your mum is “entitled” to a refund but they might be able to help on a goodwill basis. https://www.unitedutilities.com/my-account/your-bill/difficulty-paying-your-bill/how-we-can-help/

marcia_

If she is being charged £108 a month it's quite likely she has a water leak somewhere 

Peter999_2

marcia_ said:

If she is being charged £108 a month it's quite likely she has a water leak somewhere 

Not if she pays water rates and doesn't have a meter.  Who would know about the leak?

p00hsticks

marcia_ said:

If she is being charged £108 a month it's quite likely she has a water leak somewhere 

According to the OP she's not got a water meter so the amount of water she actually uses (or is leaking) is immaterial - it will go by the old rateable value of the house, which could be high if it's a large house or in an expensive part of the country. .

To be fair to the water company, I suspect that every bill she's had has had something to suggest that she could potentially save money by switching to a water meter (ours always does), but if she's never let them know that she is unable to read the bills or ask for them in a different format (large print etc) then they won't know that she's not reading them. 

marcia_

p00hsticks said:

marcia_ said:

If she is being charged £108 a month it's quite likely she has a water leak somewhere 

According to the OP she's not got a water meter so the amount of water she actually uses (or is leaking) is immaterial - it will go by the old rateable value of the house, which could be high if it's a large house or in an expensive part of the country. .

To be fair to the water company, I suspect that every bill she's had has had something to suggest that she could potentially save money by switching to a water meter (ours always does), but if she's never let them know that she is unable to read the bills or ask for them in a different format (large print etc) then they won't know that she's not reading them. 

 Right, missed that 

Keep_pedalling

Do you know what level of income she actually gets at the moment?

Now that she has finally opened up about her finances, this would be a good time to talk to her about putting financial lasting power of attorney in place. 

If she is entitled to PC that can be backdated, but only by 3 months. If the it is possible to backdate her water bills it won’t be longer than that.