Severn Trent

BlackCoffee1sugar

Hi, three of us live in a 3 bed-semi. One bathroom, small downstairs cloakroom barely used, no bath just a power shower. On average I'd say we use the washing machine and dishwasher once each per day. Minimal hose pipe usage (The Peak District rarely experiences drought!) and no other appliances requiring water.

My direct debit for water is currently £175 per month. I queried this with Severn Trent and sent in a new reading (we have a meter) and I'm being told my new monthly payment will be £202. No apparent leaks and when taps are off etc the meter is not moving.

Customer service are giving stock responses via their Whatsapp helpline, saying that they hope that I can reduce my usage to bring the cost down. Has anyone got experience of this? Is this what water costs nowadays?? Am I within my rights to request a full review and to get them to look at my meter? Or do we just have to take their word for it?

Any advice appreciated

elsien

Have you checked the meter readings against the statement, and that previous payments were enough to cover what you were using?
How much water are you using in cubic metres, that’s what you need to look at rather than your direct debit amount.

Robin9

Please give us the meter readings from your bill for the last few years.

fatbelly

Similar to you, 3-bed semi. Water is £84 per QUARTER. You do have a problem somewhere.

Ms_Chocaholic

How long is everyone spending in the shower, a quick google suggests a power shower can use 150 litres of water in ten minutes compared to a bath which only uses 80 litres.

Just for some context, two adults in our home and we spend around £260 on water per year.

Robin9

Until we get those meter reads we are only guessing.

TroubledTarts

This won't help 4 people showers only on a water smart meter £60 a month and looking at where we are probably increasing to £70 a month soon to cover our usage.

Most showers are a few minutes long except for the two females hair washes they are much longer and ablutions for 4 fibre rich humans 🤣🤣

Nobody has a bath it just sits there and I wonder whether making beer in it would be a better use for it? Any other suggestions welcome.

elsien

The suggestion is to properly read your meter and check your older and bills and see what is happening. Posting here for advice once your exact usage over time is known.
You are not going to get any sort of answer just by going off the direct debit figures

Robin9

The OP comes to the Forum with an issue that is costing a lot of money and asks for advice.

The members of the Forum give some advice and ask questions.

And the OP's response ? Not a beep. Not a thank you or a I'll dig into my records and will come back in a few days. I PM'd the OP to chase and still no response.

I see one of the main benefits of the Forum as learning from others even if it's an own goal