Thames Water help/advice

Scooter_1978

I live on my own and up until last year I used pay £16 a month with Thames Water.

Then they upped the monthly costs to £32 which I was furious about as it wasn't about any usage change but the fact OFWAT let them raise prices.

I've just had a letter saying my bill will be increasing to £35 a month, I called them and they are standing firm that it's an increase in usage.

Is £35 a month too much or is it average for Thames Water and I just need to suck it up?  I live on my own with a meter and don't use a huge amount of water.

Thanks for any advice/help

matelodave

TBH the cost and the definition of "not a huge amount of water" isn't any help at all. £16 a month may not have been enough and so you could have ramped up some arrears which have to be paid back.

Water and sewerage charges have increased substantially this year as well so its quite feasible that you could be paying double. However that said, as you've got a meter you are able to read it yourself and make sure that your bills are using actual meter readings and not estimates. You should also be able to look back over previous bils to see what your annual consumption has been in cu.m rather than "not a lot"

Armed with that you can multiply the tariff by the volume of water that you've used and work out what you annual cost should be. Do the same for the waste water and then add around £200 for the fixed costs .Check your bills to ensure that you dont have any arrears or credit. If you have then either add them to the total, divide it by 12 and that should give you some idea of what your monthly direct debit should be.

(be aware that your direct debit is not a bill, just a contribution towards the actual bill). However water companies are notorious for over estimating consumption but if you've got your own info then get them to adjust your DD if it's nowhere near what it should be.

Thames water charges for 2025/26 = One cubic metre equals 1,000 litres which is an estimated 25 quick showers. It costs £2.4743 per m3 for clean water and £1.5480 per m3 for wastewater as of 1 April 2025. You also need to add approx £200 for fixed standing charges.

If you're a metered customer and pay your bill by instalments, your payments may have increased. We’ve created a guide to help you understand regular payments.

By my reckoning they have estimated your consumption to be around 55c.m a year which is average for one person. Obviously if you can prove that you regularly use less than this (from previous bills with actual meter readings) then get them to recalculate based on actual, not estimated consumption.

This how their sums work out based on a DD of £35/month assuming that there are no arrears or credits
Direct debit = £35 x 12 = £420
Subtract £200 standing charge (water @ £63.96 and sewerage at £130.22) leaving £220 for water and sewerage.
Add water and sewerage together £2.4743 + 1.5480 = £4.0223 per cu..
Divided into £220 = 54.7cu.m

QrizB

Scooter_1978 said:

Is £35 a month too much or is it average for Thames Water and I just need to suck it up?  I live on my own with a meter and don't use a huge amount of water.

The answers to all your questions will be shown on your Thames Water bill.

Your bill will include your meter readings and will detail how your charges are made up. It will tell you whether you have any arrears, or not. It will tell you how much water you are using and whether that has changed from previous bills.

What does your bill say about all this?

singhini

Scooter_1978 said:

I live on my own and up until last year I used pay £16 a month with Thames Water.

Then they upped the monthly costs to £32 which I was furious about as it wasn't about any usage change but the fact OFWAT let them raise prices.

I've just had a letter saying my bill will be increasing to £35 a month, I called them and they are standing firm that it's an increase in usage.

Is £35 a month too much or is it average for Thames Water and I just need to suck it up?  I live on my own with a meter and don't use a huge amount of water.

Thanks for any advice/help

£16 doesn't sound alot    (i too live alone, i'm very frugal with water and my actual monthly water bill is £18-£22 per month). 
As mentioned previously, you need to look at your bill and see what it says (you may have been in arears).

Even though i have a meter, i still log into my online account on the 1st day of each month and click "bill me upto date"  -----> that way i know exactly what my bill is month-on-month  (i keep a spreadsheet of all my expenses).

While logged-in to my account im also able to see my water usage day-by-day or week-by-week or hour-by-hour if i want -----> handy to keep an eye out for potential water leaks. 

Is £35 a month too much -----> don't know, but if you end up with a credit accumulating, they will reduce it automatically. 

Do you know exactly want your usage is? (i'm guessing not).

MattMattMattUK

£16 barely covers the fixed charges so I am not surprised they have had to increase the Direct Debit, I would suspect somewhere between £20-28 for a low user single occupancy.