Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

Cardew

maisietoo wrote: »

Hello, I need some advice please. My water company are South East Water. Our bill is assessed based on 1. A consumption charge based on a fixed charge for a residential property and 2. A Thames Water Volume charge.
We are assessed as a 3 bedroom house whereas we only have 2 bedrooms. We also use a septic tank and rainwater butts i.e. not connected to the main drainage system.
I have asked South East Water for an amended bill and refund/rebate.
Their e-mail to me says they need to confirm our water supply internally and externally, to fully determine if we can have an external meter fitted to the property. Upon confirmation of this survey they will be able to either fit an eternal meter or apply us on a 2 Bed Assessed Charge. They therefore request that we apply for a water meter for this survey to be carried out.
I don't want to apply for a water meter as I think we'd have to pay more if we had a water meter. Who do I need to go to to get them to assess our water bill correctly?
Thanks in advance.

There are 3 methods of charging for water.

1. Based on the Rateable Value(RV) of your property.

2. Metered consumption and standing charge.

3. An Assessed charge.

From your post above I suspect that you are charged on the RV of your property. This has nothing to do with number of bedrooms. It was the method of collecting 'local taxes' prior to 1990 - superceeded by 'The Poll Tax' and now Council Tax.

If you look on your bill the RV will be shown and you pay xxxP per £1 RV.

Importantly there is no way to change that RV.

To get an Assessed charge you must apply for a meter and only if a meter can not be fitted, will you be given the opportunity to have an Assessed charge.

maisietoo

Hi Cardew! Thanks for your quick reply.:) My bill is definitely assessed. There is no rateable value shown, and under the Thames Water volume charge it says the charge is for a 3 bedroom property - on the actual bill.
Our property initially did not have a water bill of it's own. One property with only one water bill had been split into several numbered properties. When we moved in we thought we ought to have a water bill of our own. I applied and they eventually sent us an assessed bill which I am happy with, apart from the fact that it is assessed as a 3 bed and we have a septic tank which waste water goes into.
That's all I want changed, but South East Water said I have to apply for a water meter! Perhaps I need to contact the Water Council? Or is there another regulator? There must be a way of changing an incorrect assessed charge. Thanks again.

Cardew

If they won't change your assessed charge then contact the Consumer Council for Water.

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

Cardew

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.


I suspect that the £136 in 2011 was for water supply only and you got a further bill for sewerage.

This year SE Water(who don't supply sewerage services) are collecting the sewerage charges for another company.

sablog

We followed the guidelines you have mentioned and switched a year ago to a Water Meter as we have twice the bedrooms to people ratio. As expected the amount of water we actually used was only two thirds of what we had been paying for at our 'rateable value'. HOWEVER, the pence per cubic meter on the old system (unmetered) was 72p. When we received our new bill with a water meter the price was £1.22. So we are now paying more to use a third less water! This is a crazy system and there is no justification I can see for the charge per cubic meter being much higher if you have a water meter.
We have had no option but to return to the old unmetered system.

Cardew

sablog wrote: »

We followed the guidelines you have mentioned and switched a year ago to a Water Meter as we have twice the bedrooms to people ratio. As expected the amount of water we actually used was only two thirds of what we had been paying for at our 'rateable value'. HOWEVER, the pence per cubic meter on the old system (unmetered) was 72p. When we received our new bill with a water meter the price was £1.22. So we are now paying more to use a third less water! This is a crazy system and there is no justification I can see for the charge per cubic meter being much higher if you have a water meter.
We have had no option but to return to the old unmetered system.

I am afraid you have misunderstood. Under the Rateable Value(RV)system you were unmetered and you couldn't determine how many cubic metres you used.(as you need a meter)

I am pretty certain the 72p would be the price of water per £1 of RV. So as an example if your RV was £200 you would pay £144 for water(200 x 72p) regardless of how much water you used.

Your RV would be shown on your bill.

The charge for sewerage would be on a similar basis (200 x yyp)

All that matters if your total charge per year.

rich05uk

sablog wrote: »

We have had no option but to return to the old unmetered system.

How did you manage to do that, I thought once you are on a meter there is no going back?

Cardew

rich05uk wrote: »

How did you manage to do that, I thought once you are on a meter there is no going back?

A customer who applied themselves for a meter can revert back to being charged on their previous Rateable Value, as long as they do so within 12 months(24 months in Anglian).

The meter remains in-situ and the next occupant will be metered.

Flydrive

Hi

Be aware - when you change to a meter check your details have remained the same! I have just realised that when I changed to a meter in 2009 (saving me around £130 pa) they stopped giving the rebate for surface water not going into the drains! Thames Water have told me that I SHOULD get it backdated. we will see.

bianchigirl

Hi everyone,

Have read a few posts about being able to cut out charges if you have the gravel pit thing. Can you do the same if all the rainwater from your roof goes into a water butt or does this not count?

Crossing my fingers, but not very hopeful:question: