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!