Yorkshire Water - poor billing

Peter999_2

I am in the unfortunate position of being forced to have Yorkshire Water for my supplier.

I currently pay a monthly direct debit for water and sewerage. I have to keep a strict note of all my ingoings and outgoings (no benefits - just live off rapidly depleting savings) so I need to know exactly what I am spending each month.

The YW payments system is completely appalling. I have a water meter and a smart meter is attached. It reads the meter TWICE a year - that's it. I therefore have no idea how much water I am using (or if I have a leak etc). I thought I would take a meter reading each month, submit it and then it would generate a bill each month like my electric supplier would do before I got a smart meter. Nope, you can only submit readings TWICE a year, no more.

It is completely ridiculous, especially as the cost has tripled in the last couple of years - water is no longer a cheap commodity.

I was speaking to a friend from another county and another supplier. He can log into an app and it shows him the usage for every day - he can see all usage with 30 minute intervals. He can easily submit a reading whenever he wants.

Is there anything that can be done with this? In 2026 it is just not acceptable to be this poor.

I now take readings from the water meter every month (it is not easy to get to my meter) and have a spreadsheet where I am having to calculate how much it is costing me. It's a royal pain in the bum and it really angers me how poor they are.

born_again

Yorkshire does not have a system in place for 30 min readings, I dread to thing how much that would cost to upgrade all meters to a system like that, as they are set up for a van driving past to collect a reading.

Best bet is to look at last years usage & read the meter monthly to see how it compares. That would give you a heads up on leakage.

Tripled?

20-21 water 138.85p per cubic meter

23-24 water 160.81p per cubic meter

25-26 water 218.38p per cubic meter

Not even doubled since 20-21🤷‍♀️

Peter999_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980030#Comment_81980030

Yes, like I've said, I'm taking meter readings each month and working out how much it has cost me. Very frustrating though - I didn't know they had to drive down the street to pick up the meter readings. That is really poor and certainly not acceptable.

I actually had a leak for over 3 months which I had no idea about until they processed the reading. The bill was thousands so I dread to think how much water was lost. I'd have know very quickly if they did their job properly.

daveyjp

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980097#Comment_81980097

When my parents had a suspected leak it was Yorkshire Water who contacted them as there was a noticeable spike in useage. YW were right - a newly installed toilet had a leak.

Sherlock33

I am with YW at have quarterly bills using my smart meter readings with the payment taken by quarterly DD so an alternative to what you currently have is def possible! Your situation sounds very frustrating!

MattMattMattUK

It is not poor and is totally acceptable, the cost to build an always on smart water materials network would be in the billions and add significantly to bills.

Peter999_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980941#Comment_81980941

Thanks but that's just not true.

Anglican Water provide smart meters that provide 1 hour readings updated onto their app every 24 hours.

Thames Water provide smart meters that provide 1 hour readings updated onto their app every 24/48 hours.

My leak would have been resolved months before it was if the smart meter was providing readings every hour. I've now found out that YW are currently rolling the technology out in Leeds & Sheffield before a full rollout to the county. This will provide hourly readings and they are primarily doing this to stop the leaks as soon as possible.

I guess I wasn't the only one to think it is unacceptable for this not to happen - no doubt this will have been pressure by the regulator.

Peter999_2

It was YW that told me about my leak after they'd read the meter - they think about 4 months after the leak started. The amount of water wasted just for my house is incredible and now it looks like technology will now stop this happening in the future.

As soon as the leak was identified it was completely fixed very quickly.

QrizB

Thanks but that's just not true.

It is, though. For YW to provide the info you request, they'd need to (re)fit all their water meters with remote telemetry equipment.

I don't know exactly how many customers YW have but if they have 2 million, and each meter replacement is £200, that's £400M.

Thames Water provide smart meters that provide 1 hour readings updated onto their app every 24/48 hours.

Not around here they don't! My meter is read once every six months.

Peter999_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81981366#Comment_81981366

The post I quoted said it would cost billions, and it will not therefore I said it was untrue.

Yorkshire Water have 2.3 million homes that they supply (2 million was an impressive guess) and it will cost about £150 per meter to change. Therefore it will cost them roughly £345 million to replace them all - nowhere near the billions. You've got to think logically - changing to smart meters that can make 30 minute readings and send them every 24 hours would immediately massively reduce leaks. They are going to know within a day when a major leak (like mine) occurs. My leak cost about £2,000 of lost water which YW paid for (even though it wasn't actually their fault).

It's something they simply have to do and could easily be incorporated into network maintenance and upgrades (water meters have to be replaced every 10-15 years anyway).

It is vital that we keep forging ahead with technology to improve things. If peoples water bills suddenly increase a lot (not through a leak just more usage) then YW could immediately email people to warn them of the increase. As it stands, the first thing customers get to know is when they get a large bill once a year and suddenly they owe hundreds of pounds.

As soon as I could I got a smart meter for my electric and gas and they are genuinely fantastic. The amount of money I have saved has run into thousands over the years. I can look at my app and see exactly how much I have used, in 30 minute segments, the day after it's been used. When you are running a very tight budget, like I am, it makes things so much easier it really does.

Peter999_2

To update my own thread.

Yorkshire Water are now actually replacing 91% of all smart meters with a new "real" smart meter. It will provide hourly reading of the water meter (sent by the meter to YW ever day).

This is great news and should make billing more up to date like Gas/Electric.