Help! Water bill increased to £117

MattMattMattUK

Merlin139 said:

Have you made a complaint to Southern water about the length of time it took them to read your meter? Do the same rules about back billing apply to water as they do with Energy?

They do not, back billing rules are specific to residential energy from an Ofgem regulated supplier. They are also more complicated than most people seem to believe so do not always help even with energy. 

tim_p

Have you actually read the meter yourself? Then read it again a week later/ month / whatever later to see your actual usage?? 

jimjames

tim_p said:

Have you actually read the meter yourself? Then read it again a week later/ month / whatever later to see your actual usage?? 

This is the best option. Unless you are checking your usage you have no way of knowing what the situation is.

rainbow_fountains said:

Devongardener said:

Is a meter reading shown on your bills?  If so you can compare usage over previous quarters..

2023-2024 was 401 litres a day. 

2024-2025 was 471 litres a day.

2023: £26.70 per month
2024: £59.41 per month
2025: £117.57 per month

The monthly DD amount in £ is irrelevant. The key figure is the amount you're using and the rate per m3. The m3 rate has increased this year by around 50% so if you're now using nearly 20% more water than last year as well then that will be a significant jump in your bills even without any arears being added.
If you check your meter regularly you'll be able to see if the 471 litres is close to what your consumption is but either way it would be worth taking some measures to reduce your use.

QrizB

rainbow_fountains said:
2023: £26.70 per month
2024: £59.41 per month
2025: £117.57 per month

2023-2024: £200.79 in arrears.
2024-2025: £452.37 in arrears.

Ok, so while paying £59.41 a month (£712.92 a year) your arrears increased by £251.58. An annual bill of £964.50.

Which means your "correct" monthly payment in 2024 should have been £80.38.

Bills have since increased by almost 50% (link below) so you your bill for 2025-26 will be closer to £1400 and your monthly payment should be about £120.

And that's without doing anything about your arrears; clearing those during the year would make your monthly payment more like £160.

Link:

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/help-and-support/how-we-calculate-your-bill/