Thames Water doubling our bill and not reading our smart meter — what are my options?

ftsos

Long-time member (over a decade) but rarely have the time to post due to live stuff — I am hoping for some advice on a Thames Water billing situation that has become quite frustrating, and which has a history that I think is relevant.

Background — how we got here:

Around six months ago (rough date), I discovered that Thames Water had no water meter registered at our property on their system — despite the fact that they had installed one themselves. When I phoned and challenged them on this, they admitted the error. Because they had been estimating our usage incorrectly for an extended period, it turned out they owed us approximately £1,200. Rather than refund this directly, they agreed to deduct it from our bills over several months.

I raise this not to relitigate the past, but because I think it's relevant context. This is a company that installed a meter, failed to register it, overcharged us significantly as a result, and only corrected it when I pushed them. That experience shapes how I'm approaching the current problem.

The current situation:

We are a household of three in London. Two of us shower at the gym most days rather than at home, and we have no garden to speak of — mostly concrete, a small cabin, and a few pot plants. Our water usage is genuinely minimal.

Following the resolution of the previous issue, I tried to set up a sensible regular monthly direct debit — the kind of straightforward arrangement most households have with utility companies. Thames Water suggested a monthly amount of over £80. This is more than double what we were paying earlier — our previous direct debit was around £40 a month. When I challenged this, I couldn't get a satisfactory explanation for why the figure had jumped so dramatically for a low-usage household like ours.

I cancelled the direct debit and said I would pay monthly instead. However, even paying manually, the bills they are sending are still over £80 a month. Given their track record with our account, I have no confidence that their estimates are accurate.

What I'm doing now:

I've decided the only way to take control of this is to submit manual meter readings every month. I took a date- and time-stamped photo of the meter today and plan to begin submitting monthly readings going forward. I am time-poor as it is. I am self-employed, and I am also the primary carer of an autistic child. So, adding another task to my monthly schedule is something I really don't want to do, but I feel I have no choice given the situation and mistakes Thames Water is making.

I intend to call Thames Water, record the call, and confirm with them the best date in the month to submit readings so that it aligns properly with my billing cycle — I want that agreed on record so they can't later claim the readings were submitted on the wrong date.

I'll also be raising a formal written complaint.

My questions for the forum:

1. Has anyone had a similar experience with Thames Water — either the unregistered meter issue or the estimated billing after a smart meter installation? How did you resolve it?
2. For those who submit monthly manual readings through the Thames Water online account — is it working reliably? I've read that a bill is generated within a day or two of submission. Is that consistent with your experience?
3. If their recent estimates have caused me to overpay again, what's the best approach for pursuing a refund — formal written complaint first, or straight to CCWater?
4. Is there anything specific I should say — or avoid saying — when I call them, to get a productive outcome?
5. Any advice on the formal complaints process with Thames Water, and how quickly they tend to respond before it needs to go to CCWater?

I'm aware that switching water companies isn't an option for residential customers, so I know I'm stuck with them. I just want accurate billing and a fair monthly amount that reflects our actual usage.

Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.

MattMattMattUK

In relation to your questions:

1. It happens, but it depends on the type of meter. Some are fully smart and communicate directly, others are smart but require a van to drive in proximity to obtain a reading (most TW, particularly anything older than a few years are the latter). It is resolved by the meter being added to the system properly and billing happening based on usage.

2. If you submit a reading monthly then TW will generate a bill monthly based on those readings. The bill is usually generated the next working day. They may occasionally generate another bill themselves, usually when their own reader attends (once every couple of years).

3. If you have up to date meter readings they will just adjust the amount due down, either by lowering the Direct Debit if you set one up again, or by sending you bills monthly but if you have a credit they will just eat away at the credit balance. You do not need to send a "formal written complaint" or anything like that. In six months you will likely not have built up a huge credit anyway. You usage is probably in the £35-50 region.

4. There is no point in calling them, just submit your readings online and let the billing system sort itself out.

5. I see little point in a "formal complaint", it will not get you anything, or anywhere. Just submit the readings and set up the Direct Debit again, they will bill you based on your actual usage and that solves the problem.

If you want accurate billing each month you need to submit a reading each month, their default otherwise is to bill every six months, with one being an estimate, but in some areas they can take longer between reads.

Rodders53

OK…

What was the meter install date and READING?
What was the last annual review bill date?
What does the meter read now. (Subtract opening from current to get the usage over 6 or 7 months… then do the sums based on TW charges to get the cost in £s)
What was their last estimated read number (higher or lower than your Current reading)?

Presumably this is water supply, sewerage removal and surface rainwater charges in a total?

Water companies tend to want one to pay in advance of use, with an annual reconciliation / reset of the DD based on a zero or small +/- balance.

NB You should make time for taking a monthly meter read of ALL utilities - but water especially as it can alert you to a leak (toilets are notorious for this, trickling down the back of the pan unnoticed).

{FWIW my Anglian Water annual date is mid June (just had it reconciled). We use 36 cubes per annum (we harvest rainwater to flush loos much, but not all, of the time saving us about that same volume). Our monthly is £32 and that builds up to a credit of £350-400 until the next reconciliation bill. AW do 6 monthly manual reads… nearly drove over the gentleman reader on the drive doing the last one.} Anglian will produce a bill almost immediately if I submit a manual read (and recalculate / update the DD amount).

matelodave

As Rodders53 suggests, you should put the effort into reading your meters yourself - even so-called smart ones - to check that they are sending the data, that the utilities company is reading it and that the bills are correct.

It also helps you check for leaks and anomalies - by reading my meter monthly I have detected two leaks in the underground pipework which, if undiscovered, would have cost me a fortune and undermined the foundations of the house. It takes but a few minutes once a month and can save no end of aggro in the future.

AW will produce an updated bill every time you send them a meter reading and, if you know how much you are using, you can agree an appropriate DD rather than a silly amount based on a random guess.

ftsos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6673846/thames-water-doubling-our-bill-and-not-reading-our-smart-meter-what-are-my-options

@everyone who has replied, I apologise for the delayed response. I didn't have a chance to see the replies yesterday and go through them.

@MattMattMattUK - Thank you for your comments and feedback . You might be right, but I've had about 10 to 15 years of dealing with organisations like this. I bought my house freehold on a mortgage, and the local estate it's on ended up charging me a service charge for about five or seven years. They were not supposed to. It took me four years to get them to admit that they were in the wrong. Finally, when they admitted it, it took them another four or five years to pay me. The payment only came through yesterday. Do you know the only reason that all came through? Because I documented everything, I recorded every phone call, and I will eventually publish everything.

Now, I agree with you on many levels. I shouldn't have to make a complaint. What's the whole point of an electric smart meter? The key word is "smart," and I work in tech and have owned tech businesses. Why did we install a smart meter if they can't know what our meter reading is? What was the whole point of that? If I have to do a manual meter reading every month to get an accurate bill, it means the whole point of the smart meter was a waste of billions of pounds and a waste of all of our time and energy.

The system is designed to get the average working man or woman or average family through a process where you almost give up. Instead of complaining or getting to the bottom of the issue, you end up paying. I can almost say with a certain amount of certainty that a large volume of people overpay.

I don't like having to do the things I have to do. I have far more important things to do. I shouldn't need to go to such extreme lengths to pay something as basic as the right amount of utility bill. I am grateful for the point you have made.

ftsos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82047578#Comment_82047578

@Rodders53 Thank you very much for your helpful reply . Firstly, let's deal with the water leakage. I apologise in advance for the long answer. There is no water leakage. We have what I'd call an unusual house by UK standards. We are very close to Canary Wharf, and although the house itself is not new, it's what you'd call a cube-shaped house. It's from the 1960s period, I think. Again, I'm guessing, but we've lived here almost 25 years. Most people assume it's a modern house, and it's been in two Hollywood movies for scenes. I'm not exaggerating. You can see it on one of the YouTube trailers for one movie.

Don't misunderstand me. The house is not beautiful; or expensive by London standards. It's just the location. The reason why I'm telling you all of this is because I know the house fairly well because of the contracts I had to sign one with Netflix, another one with, with subcontracting companies that deal with locations film studios and - And they take out insurance should anything go wrong because they have to put everything back in place. Some of them can ask a lot of questions. Plus I have had ongoing issues with the housing association which has taken over the land from the council even though we own our house via "freehold" by mortgage - So it's meant ongoing issues where I've had to investigate different areas of the house to check for any leaks and other issues because of surveyors other development people - long story. But assume there is no leakage for the moment.

To add to that, I've had two recent renovations in terms of bathrooms because I've got Crohn's disease. I've had to put a bathroom downstairs and a bathroom upstairs to make them more accessible.

To answer your questions, I've tried to number them and answer them as best as I can.

1. What was the meter install date and READING? = The meter was installed between 1pm - 5pm on 28/05/2024. I genuinely don't know what the meter reading was on that date. Maybe it was my own stupid mistake to be trusting and not more careful. But even they admitted later that the meter reading they took and the bill they were giving us was way over, and they ended up crediting our account. I'm going on memory, and this is a rough figure. It might be about £1,200. This is a while back.
2. What was the last annual review bill date? = I didn't know there was such a thing as an annual review build date. This is why I feel I need to call and find out this information when our review build date is set. I also want to set a meter reading date because I want to submit monthly meter readings. I've lost faith in the system.

Secondly, The bill I received for this month covers June and April, The bill covers the period 31 March 2026 to 7 June 2026 (69 days). The previous bill referenced in the summary was dated 7 April 2026, with a balance of £167.88 which was paid on 12 April 2026. There's no explicit "annual review" date shown, but the billing appears to run on roughly a quarterly cycle rather than annual.

1. What does the meter read now = 000 176.340. Photo taken 25 June 2026 shows 176.340 m³.
2. What was their last estimated read number (higher or lower than your Current reading)? = There's a bit of contradiction here, but let me answer your question first. Because I've done a bit of research, and I put my hand up and say I am no expert, but I'm a 50-year-old man who has been running small businesses and doing research on things for some time now. So although I'm not an expert, I can understand basic things.

Both readings on this bill appear to be actual smart meter reads, not estimates. The bill states your tariff is "Metered – Smart" and gives specific dated readings (160 m³ on 30 March, 172 m³ on 7 June). There's no "E" marker indicating an estimate.
However, your photo today shows 176.34 m³, whereas the bill's latest figure was 172 m³.

now here's the contradiction. I've been told by Thames Water they have to come and do a physical meter reading. This is why they do it every six months or once a year. So, how could they have done a smart meter reading if they haven't done any visits? Our meter is inside our house, in the kitchen. We would know if somebody visited.

It doesn't fully add up. Let me explain what's actually going on IMO:
Based on basic research, there are essentially 3 different types of meter that Thames Water are deploying, and they use the term "smart meter" quite loosely, which causes a lot of confusion:

⦿ Type 1 — A fully connected smart meter. This transmits readings automatically and continuously (hourly, in theory) without anyone visiting. You'd be able to see your daily usage graph in your online account. No physical visits needed at all.

⦿ Type 2 — A meter with a remote reader attached. This can be interrogated wirelessly when a Thames Water van or operative drives past the property. They don't need to knock on your door or access the meter, but someone does physically need to come within range of your street. This is sometimes misleadingly called "smart."

⦿ Type 3 — A standard digital meter that looks modern but requires someone to physically open the cover and read it manually, just like the old meters.

My Sensus meter is a relatively new model (manufactured December 2024 according to the date on the casing), so it should in theory be capable of smart transmission. But — and this is the critical point — the meter hardware being smart doesn't mean Thames Water have connected it to their network yet. As Thames Waters rollout is incomplete. The meter can be sitting there perfectly capable of transmitting, but if Thames Water haven't activated the connection on their end, it's effectively just a standard digital meter.

So when my bill says "Metered – Smart" as the tariff type, that may simply mean I am on the smart meter tariff, not necessarily that they are actively receiving automatic transmissions from my meter.

1. They call it a smart meter ✓
2. They still need to visit to read it ✓
3. I am not necessarily seeing a live daily usage graph in my account ✓

ftsos

Thank you for your comments, they make reasonable sense. I'm going to speak to them and agree on a reading date and get other information from them because I feel the only solution is submitting a manual automated reading date every month like you said. That was my plan, as I mentioned in my original post.

I'm shocked that people aren't more angry that they have to manually submit meter readings every month Because of the incompetence of Thames Water or whichever water company you're with. I suppose it's just me.

Rodders53

You have used 4.34 cubes between 7th and 25th June (18 days) = 241 litres a day.

Readings of 0000-160 m³ on 30 March, 172 m³ on 7 June = 12 cubes (rounded as meter reads to whole numbers) used in (1 March, 30 April + 31 May and 7 June days) 69 days = 174 litres per day.

16.34 cubes used in 87 days is 188 litres per day average…

"The meter was installed between 1pm - 5pm on 28/05/2024"

A brand new meter would be 000000 or 99999.9x to hit zero after install and zero used for billing… So 2 years x 365 plus nearly 30 days = 760 days at 188 litres a day = 142,880 litres or 143 cubes… not a million miles off the 172 meter reading

760 days at 227 litres a day on average would be spot on your current meter reading!

I'll suggest your meter has possibly been read by a 'drive by' or perhaps more accurately a walk past / near the meter in a busy London location. Hence no E for Estimate or C for Customer after the number. The CS reps you've spoken too have probably been confused as you seem to be; and are not making it simple for us to 'read between the lines' to seek the facts.