Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

sixteenthofjune

Thanks very much Cardew. I will enquire with Yorkshire Water.

BeautyBella

Please can anyone help? I bought my house approx 2.5 years ago and I know there there huge arrears on the water bill from the previous owner. (£1000+) This may or may not be relevant.

Recently I discovered from chatting to my adjoining next door neighbour that he is paying significantly less than me on his water rates. Ball park figures - he is paying £350, I am paying £600. Both are rates, not meters.

I have queried this with Thames Water and been given the spiel of RV dating back to 1971 but what I really want to know is, how can we have had such differing RV's when we live in pretty much identical 1960's semi's?

Although both houses have been extended now, planning records show that these were done from the 1980's onwards.

Is my only option taking this up with the ombudsman? and what arguments can I put forward? I am reluctant to switch to a meter because I work from home, I have to use the washing machine a lot, and I love my baths.

The reason I mentioned about the arrears from the previous occupant is because I do not trust 100% that I am not paying these off. I know it sounds mad, but I have heard of similar horror stories.

Can anyone help please?

Cardew

BeautyBella wrote: »

Please can anyone help? I bought my house approx 2.5 years ago and I know there there huge arrears on the water bill from the previous owner. (£1000+) This may or may not be relevant.

Recently I discovered from chatting to my adjoining next door neighbour that he is paying significantly less than me on his water rates. Ball park figures - he is paying £350, I am paying £600. Both are rates, not meters.

I have queried this with Thames Water and been given the spiel of RV dating back to 1971 but what I really want to know is, how can we have had such differing RV's when we live in pretty much identical 1960's semi's?

Although both houses have been extended now, planning records show that these were done from the 1980's onwards.

Is my only option taking this up with the ombudsman? and what arguments can I put forward? I am reluctant to switch to a meter because I work from home, I have to use the washing machine a lot, and I love my baths.

The reason I mentioned about the arrears from the previous occupant is because I do not trust 100% that I am not paying these off. I know it sounds mad, but I have heard of similar horror stories.

Can anyone help please?

Firstly you can easily clear up that you are not 'paying off' previous occupants bills by checking the charges against yout Rateable Value.(RV)

e.g. RV = £300. total sewerage and water = £2 per £1 RV so 300 x £2 = £600 + standing charges.

The setting of the RV value is far more complicated.

The last general valuation in England for RV was 1972 - but there were several regional revaluations right up to the time the RV system was abolished in 1989.

It is important to understand that the basis of the RV was the notional rent the property could command and nothing to do with property value(unlike council tax bands)

The rent was based on a number of factors, size being one. However another important issue was the amenities in the property - Central heating, bathroom kitchen etc modernised.

It was quite possible to have a 10 bed unmodernised mansion in several acres with a lower RV than an estate semi - on the grounds that nobody would want to rent and have the upkeep(no CH) of the mansion. Even though the mansion is now band H and worth a £million.

So it is possible that your semi was 'modernised' and the extension recorded and revalued for RV purposes and your neighbour's property was not modernised/extended and/or it was not recorded for RV purposes.

If they 'got away' with their lower RV until 1989 then there was, and is, no mechanism to change the RV. I know of a huge farmhouse that was almost derelict in the early 90's that has an RV of £50. It is now modernised and they pay just over £100 p.a. for water(officially you should notify the water company of extensions but not modernisation)

There simply is nothing you can do to change your RV.

You may wish to check if you are paying for Surface Water Drainage and your neighbour not paying.

tessy_t

I am a single person living in a 3 bedroom semi and I have just realised I am paying £42 a month to dwr cymru which works out to £500 a year surely this is excessive! I will be caling them later today but I just thought I would pass it by here to get some views on whether other people in my position are paying this much, seems quite a lot of money considering I dont use that much water compared to if this house was occupied by a whole family. Once I find out the correct savings I will be switching to a meter!

nfp20

Does anyone know anything about the highway charge please?? I have had this added to my water bill after successfully having the rainwater part of the bill removed as we live on the top of a chalk down and have soak aways.

The highway charge was not there on my last bill, we have a water meter that we didn't really want with Southern Water and are based in Brighton.

I was advised that this is not for residential customers but I haven't been able to find anything on any of the websites.. the ofwat site is more than a little confusing.

want2bmortgage3

I've just got the water bill for the last 6 months which is about £82 based on an estimate meter reading. However I have no idea where the meter is, I have a stopcock tap for the flat but cant see a meter anywhere. Can anyone help and suggest where I might look for the meter? Outside I only seem to have gas and electric.

Gizza-bit

Just thought I'd add a wee bit to this. I am also on a meter. And have had horrendous problems when they 'fixed the road' resulting in an underground leak (their end of the meter thankfully) now resolved but from an initial bill of some £1240 for 6 months use?

I have just had my latest bill from Utd Utilities showing a vast increase in my direct debit (Annual bill charge / estimate) which I queried tonight and was told it was an error of theirs last year that apparently meant I was undercharged then? and they were increasing my D/Debits to ensure I was not in the red?
I said I did not get any 'summary' of use with my new bill so couldn't agree with any increase in charges, so asked them to provide one. The customer advisor then let me know they hadn't read my meter since July 2008 "But it is due to be read soon" she said.
I then went out and read the meter myself and phoned them back and continued the call & providing them with my reading, to which the new increased bill is now reduced from £469 to £204 - and she had the nerve to say they will now come and read it themselves.
Moral of this story for me ...
Keep an eye on the meter. Read it regularly. Keep a big eye on the D/Debit charges. And be very wary if they do any repairs near or at your meter in the road.

N1AK

Cardew wrote: »

The average consumption is approx 60m3 per person per year. The trouble is that almost everyone on MSE claims to use less water than average!!!!

I'm not sure if you mean the problem is that MSE people falsely claim to use less than they really do, or whether you mean our lower claims make the 'average' figure look dubious.

Personally I live with my partner in a two bedroom flat. Over the last 3 years we have used 80m3 a year combined. Although we don't go out of our way to be water efficient we have no garden and only have showers which may cover some of the difference.

Cardew wrote: »

Toilet flushing, baths and older washing machines/dishwashers are the biggest culprits.

All good points, but I do think it is worth pointing out that newer dishwashers are more efficient than hand washing http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/dishwasher_vs_h.php (and I say this as someone who does not have one).

pandda

MSE_Archna wrote: »

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

Slash The Cost Of Water Bills

To discuss or ask a question about this article: click reply

I have to dispute the table of costs with and without a water meter. I am in STW area, living on my own and paying over £330 per annum for metered water. I do not use an unrealistic amount of water. Showers, not baths, WM only full loads etc. Your figure of £141 corresponds better to the rate I paid 7 years ago, when, incidentally, there were 2 people living here.

Cardew

pandda wrote: »

I have to dispute the table of costs with and without a water meter. I am in STW area, living on my own and paying over £330 per annum for metered water. I do not use an unrealistic amount of water. Showers, not baths, WM only full loads etc. Your figure of £141 corresponds better to the rate I paid 7 years ago, when, incidentally, there were 2 people living here.

Welcome to the forum.

Are you paying for Surface Water Drainage(SWD)?

For 2008/9 this is £26.49/£53.11/£79.60 for Flat or Tce/Semi/Det

The standing charges are £33.57 for water sewerage.

As the water/sewerage combined charge is £2.03p per cubic meter.

So at £330 pa you still must be using way more water than the average of 60 cubic metres pa.

Even if you live in a detached residence and are paying SWD(most don't) you are still using well over 100cubic metres pa and it could be as high as 150 cubic metres.

Unless your £330 bill is because you carried a debit balance over from 2007/8