Water company increased bill after enquiry

bibliboo

QrizB said:

If you look at a recent water bill, does it give you any information on what sort of charging they've applied? It should be evident from how they've described it.

I've had a look and it says it's an assessed volumetric charge but it's a bit odd based on the information I've learned because I've never asked for a meter and nor did the previous owner. In addition they asked if I would be interested in a meter.

MattMattMattUK

bibliboo said:

MattMattMattUK said:

bibliboo said:

Hi all, 

I'm wondering if this normal.  I received a bill from Yorkshire water (where the average bill is £602) saying that my bill has increased from £760 per year to £980.

I don't have a water meter.

If you have a water meter installed then your water bill will likely more than halve. 
https://www.ccw.org.uk/save-money-and-water/water-meter-calculator/

bibliboo said:

I rang up to enquire about this as I was aware that I was already paying £100-200 more than most people in my area. 

What other people are paying is irrelevant, it is based on rateable value.

bibliboo said:

They took some details from me with regards to water support.  I am the sole earner in my household and my salary is £367.5k a year and am not on benefits and since moving into my property my family, bless them have grown from 4 to 6 as well have had two more children.

If you are taking home £15-17k per month why do you think would you be entitled to water support?

bibliboo said:

After taking my details they basically said my bill will now increase to £1380 a year. Because I have two more children than when I first moved in!  I tried escalating my complaint to the complaints department and they kept saying I have been paying less over the years.  It was a very stressful call and they were very unsympathetic.

That sounds like you are on assessed charge, which is based on the number of occupants when they are unable to have a meter fitted, have you asked for a water meter to be fitted? Why was the call stressful, how did you expect them to be sympathetic?

bibliboo said:

The problem is you don't need to let your water company know that you have had more children and I genuinely regret making the phone call.  But the simple enquiry has led to me having my bill doubled, yet they would have been none the wiser had I not enquired. I feel tricked and it's very upsetting and feel genuinely stupid for enquiring about this in the first place. 

You were not tricked.

bibliboo said:

Is this normal? And is £1360 a normal bill? Is there anyway I can get help for this? I have escalated this complaint to what Yorkshire water call 'stage 1' but I honestly have no trust in the water company and only raised it to stage 1 after clarifying my bill won't increase further than this.

There is no "normal", it depends on rateable value, assessed usage or metered usage. Your complaint will be rejected because you are being billed according to the regulations, nothing to do with trust, everything to do with not having a valid complaint. A complaint will not increase your bills, other factors can.

As I said in my previous reply that was a typing error and my salary is £37k. I've been thinking of your reply a lot, you clearly know you stuff and I really appreciate your honest reply but I'm honestly just asking out of interest - what would you do if you naively made an enquiry like I did and gave your details for water support only to be told your bill increase by a further £600? And how would it make you feel?

The only thing I could directly do is attempt to get a water meter installed, although the fact that you have six children will limit the benefit of that it will still be cheaper than unmetered, although probably not hugely less than assessed. 

It would make me feel annoyed with myself for having caused the increase, not anger towards the water company.