Water bill - HOW MUCH??? - is this normal?

jonybravo78

jonybravo78 said:

Thanks for all the replies, I spoke to UU yesterday for an explanation. They said that we were paying £50 a month for a year or so, and our DD hadn't factored in that UU had doubled their prices so the cost should have been £100 for the same usage.

Therefore we were in arrears, which is where the new bill of £214 had come from. Also they were estimating our usage for the last 8 months or so.

I asked how much we had left in arrears as we have been paying £214 for quite some time and they said we were now £10 in credit.

I submitted a meter reading on the call, and have woken up to the following.

- We are in credit by £151
- The usage since last August 2025 to present day has been calculated at 570L a day
- Our new DD is £145.50

So - good that we understand how the bill got so ridiculous. BUT - we are in credit and they still want to charge us £145.50 a month which I think is extortionate.

Just had a call from UU with an update and everything has changed so what I could see in the system wan't correct apparently. We still owe £327.84!! However the monthly bill is down to £129/month and she said once the £327 is paid off the bill will be around £107 / month. I guess from there it will be a case of trying to bring usage down.

Bizzare that they can't seem to get the figures correct, just seems all over the place

dunstonh

jonybravo78 said:

jonybravo78 said:

Thanks for all the replies, I spoke to UU yesterday for an explanation. They said that we were paying £50 a month for a year or so, and our DD hadn't factored in that UU had doubled their prices so the cost should have been £100 for the same usage.

Therefore we were in arrears, which is where the new bill of £214 had come from. Also they were estimating our usage for the last 8 months or so.

I asked how much we had left in arrears as we have been paying £214 for quite some time and they said we were now £10 in credit.

I submitted a meter reading on the call, and have woken up to the following.

- We are in credit by £151
- The usage since last August 2025 to present day has been calculated at 570L a day
- Our new DD is £145.50

So - good that we understand how the bill got so ridiculous. BUT - we are in credit and they still want to charge us £145.50 a month which I think is extortionate.

Just had a call from UU with an update and everything has changed so what I could see in the system wan't correct apparently. We still owe £327.84!! However the monthly bill is down to £129/month and she said once the £327 is paid off the bill will be around £107 / month. I guess from there it will be a case of trying to bring usage down.

Bizzare that they can't seem to get the figures correct, just seems all over the place

With some utilities, the figure you see online is a snapshot that hasnt been updated or includes payments you have made but not recent usage.  The key is to get yourself up straight and every time there is an estimated bill generated, take a reading and submit it.       The £107 figure is in the typical ballpark

FIREDreamer

And I thought mine was bad …



Was only £50 pm three years ago.

Marvo

For the Record:....
For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Severn Trent paid a total of approximately £356.0 million in dividends to all shareholders. 

Over the 10-year period from 2016 to 2025, Severn Trent has paid out a cumulative total of approximately £2.5 billion to shareholders in dividends.

The total remuneration package for Severn Trent CEO Liv Garfield for the 2025 financial year (ending March 31, 2025) was £3.3 million.

THAT is where our money is going. It is NOT being reinvested in infrastructure. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to gaslight us.

My water charges combined (metered property) have just gone up 33%.
It's not the non-metered properties that are getting hammered as some claim (only 23% avg. at Severn Trent).

And as for Ofwat, don't get me started.

QrizB

Marvo said:

For the Record:....
For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Severn Trent paid a total of approximately £356.0 million in dividends to all shareholders. 

Page 58 of the Severn Trent  Water Limited "report and financial statements" for 24/25 stated dividend payments to be £192M. Where did you get your figures from?

MattMattMattUK

QrizB said:

Marvo said:

For the Record:....
For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Severn Trent paid a total of approximately £356.0 million in dividends to all shareholders. 

Page 58 of the Severn Trent  Water Limited "report and financial statements" for 24/25 stated dividend payments to be £192M. Where did you get your figures from?

According to their own website they paid out £371m in 2025.
https://www.severntrent.com/shareholder-centre/our-dividend/

Marvo said:

For the Record:....
For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Severn Trent paid a total of approximately £356.0 million in dividends to all shareholders. 

Over the 10-year period from 2016 to 2025, Severn Trent has paid out a cumulative total of approximately £2.5 billion to shareholders in dividends.

The total remuneration package for Severn Trent CEO Liv Garfield for the 2025 financial year (ending March 31, 2025) was £3.3 million.

THAT is where our money is going. It is NOT being reinvested in infrastructure. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to gaslight us.

That is not really where your money is going. The CEO's renumeration cost each household 6.7p, the dividend cost each household £72.65 per year / £6.05 per month, or an average of £4.25 per household per month. Money is being reinvested, money is being paid to employees, money is being paid out as dividend, it is not an either/or scenario, but all of them.

Marvo said:

My water charges combined (metered property) have just gone up 33%.

It's not the non-metered properties that are getting hammered as some claim (only 23% avg. at Severn Trent).

Non-metered charges are significantly higher than metered charges unless one uses huge amounts of water. The increase for metered properties is less for an average user than non-metered, but for very low users the actual percentage increase is higher as the network cost on the standing charge is a larger proportion. 

Marvo said:

And as for Ofwat, don't get me started.

Absolutely, they held bills artificially low for the 37 years of their existence, our bills should have been higher long ago and higher still now to allow for adequate investment in the infrastructure. 

Oh, wait, you meant you wanted to pay less, to not pay enough for the potable water you consumer and the sewage you generate... in that case no.

exhausted123

My bill has an increase of almost 80% for this year! There are two of us. Myself and an 8 year old. I have no idea why it has gone up so much. We do not use that much water, I’m not in arrears. 

Grumpy_chap

Marvo said:

For the Record:....
For the financial year ending March 31, 2025, Severn Trent paid a total of approximately £356.0 million in dividends to all shareholders. 

Over the 10-year period from 2016 to 2025, Severn Trent has paid out a cumulative total of approximately £2.5 billion to shareholders in dividends.

The total remuneration package for Severn Trent CEO Liv Garfield for the 2025 financial year (ending March 31, 2025) was £3.3 million.

THAT is where our money is going. It is NOT being reinvested in infrastructure. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to gaslight us.

My water charges combined (metered property) have just gone up 33%.
It's not the non-metered properties that are getting hammered as some claim (only 23% avg. at Severn Trent).

And as for Ofwat, don't get me started.

It is probably better that the Water Companies employ high calibre Directors capable of managing the business to generate a profit and return to the Shareholders than otherwise.  That is the sign of a stable and secure business which is able to finance operations and investment at sensible rates.

Remember, the dividends paid out to Shareholders really mean the pension funds that hold the stocks so, ultimately, average people trying to plan and provide for their retirement.

A big challenge at the moment is the level of fines that can be imposed making it difficult for the Water Companies to operate viably and difficult for the Water Companies to attract investment.  The current cap on fines is 5% of holding group global turnover.  It is proposed that cap increases to 10%.

Let's consider Thames Water - turnover about £2bn per year.  Some kind of rescue required.
You might think it would be great if the world's largest water treatment company were to acquire TW - with the skills and financial backing to support TW to a restructured and successful place.
So, that would be Veolia, group global turnover £40bn.
Enough financial muscle to buy TW and implement change.  BUT, the risk would be a fine landing associated with that £2bn turnover TW calculated as 5% (or 10% in future) of the group global turnover, so a fine of £2bn (£4bn in the future) against an operating entity with only that £2bn turnover.  It would jeopardise the viability of the whole Veolia group so obviously they won't get involved with TW.

You might think that is all pie-in-the-sky commentary, but it is real.  In the middle of 2025, there was an investor interested in acquiring TW and injecting £4bn capital into the business.  Part of the offer was that the Government agreed to a period of time for which exposure to fines would be suspended to give the new owner time to put their own management plan into effect rather than punish the new investor with the outcomes derived from the current management but the Government said no.  A massive £120 million fine was levied on TW and the potential investor immediately pulled out.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93leknykvyo

If we (as a nation) are to turn around the Water Companies then we need to do something different to the successive sticking plasters that are currently being applied.  That means either some structure that allows new private investors to drive things forward or the Government needs to have the courage of their convictions and acquire the Water Companies as nationalised businesses.

MattMattMattUK

exhausted123 said:

My bill has an increase of almost 80% for this year! There are two of us. Myself and an 8 year old. I have no idea why it has gone up so much. We do not use that much water, I’m not in arrears. 

Without staring your consumption figures that 80% is meaningless.