Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

Voduka

Hi Cardew 
I am unable to have a water meter via the private company and not able to get connected to Severn Trent.

The bill £346.75 is for 2023/24 and does not include surface water drainage which gets billed through Severn Trent.

Cardew

Voduka said:

Hi Cardew 
I am unable to have a water meter via the private company and not able to get connected to Severn Trent.

The bill £346.75 is for 2023/24 and does not include surface water drainage which gets billed through Severn Trent.

When water is supplied by Severn Trent and a water meter is unable to be provided you can claim to be placed on a single household assessed charge for used water(sewerage) which for 2023/24 is £88.97pa see Assessed charges | Our charges | My Account | Severn Trent Water (stwater.co.uk)

I see no reason why that assessed charge of £88.97 should not apply when water is supplied by a private company who will not provide a meter.

I suggest you contact Severn Trent and make such a claim. If they refuse ask for that decision in writing and take your case to the Consumer Council for Water see Contact us - we're here to help - CCW

They are very approachable by phone.

If you win we can talk about backdating any claim, albeit by the 'letter of the law' you should have applied for an assessed charge

Good luck

MouldyOldDough

My water is supplied by Wessex water (metered) - who do not state any financial levels for assistance on their website - I suffer from "poor bowel control" which necessitates showers to clean up, up to three per day

Would this satisfy the conditions ?

I have prescriptions for loperamide as proof ?

Is there any limit on savings or just income ?

Cardew

Help to pay your bill | Wessex Water

Collis4

I'm with Severn Trent, couldn't have a water meter fitted back in 2023, they failed to offer me an 'Assessed charge bill'. I complained February this year, 2024, and they admitted their mistake. I asked if I could go onto the Assessed charge for 2024/25, and they said my current water charge for 24/25 was £363.70, but if I wanted the Assessed charge it would increase to £414.90, an increase of £51.20? How did they work that one out? They never even asked for any household details? 

Cardew

Collis4 said:

I'm with Severn Trent, couldn't have a water meter fitted back in 2023, they failed to offer me an 'Assessed charge bill'. I complained February this year, 2024, and they admitted their mistake. I asked if I could go onto the Assessed charge for 2024/25, and they said my current water charge for 24/25 was £363.70, but if I wanted the Assessed charge it would increase to £414.90, an increase of £51.20? How did they work that one out? They never even asked for any household details? 

Welcome to the forum.

The assessed charge is based on the average for a metered property. You have been quoted the assessed charge for the lowest category of property. which generally means flats or terraced houses.

Property type and assessed volume charges

Zone 1 to 8 - £ per year

	Water supply	Used Water*	Highway drainage
Detached house (including link-detached)	297.02	211.40	17.09
Semi-detached house	247.59	177.83	17.09
Other household premises	217.98	157.74	17.09
Single occupancy household	122.74	93.05	17.09

*Plus the appropriate charge for surface water drainage (see Metered charges)

You can see from the above that 'other household premises' pay £392.81 in addition you are quoted for the Surface Water Drainage charge which you will be paying on your Rateable Value(RV) charges.

To have 2024/25 charges of £363.70 you will have a low Rateable Value and the charges depend on your zone see Our charges | My Account | Severn Trent Water (stwater.co.uk)

Jimifan

SamsterD said:

Another water saving tip.. When running your taps or shower waiting for it to get hot, save the water in a bucket and use it to flush the loo!!! 

We do that too.
Also keep a small container in the washbasin to catch the water when we wash our hands and add that to the bucket.
And use a small bowl within the washbasin for washing rather than fill the whole thing, and of course that too can be added to said bucket.
And another...because we have a spare microwave we microwave a jug full of water to wash with rather than fire up the boiler for a paltry amount.
Penny-pinching? Moi?
Anglian Water provide a smart meter whereby you can check your monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly (!) usage and also compare with similar households' usage and I am pleased to be in the 20% lowest water usage for similar households :-)

wild666

If a person is a sole occupant of the property then they can have a water meter fitted and this could cut their water bill down by between 50% and 75%, in my case it was 70% in the first year. My yearly bill before I had the meter fitted was £420 per year for the final year before the meter was fitted in May 2019. Since that time I've used 70,000 litres of water, that's 14,000 litres per year, I shower 3 times per week, only use minimal water in between those times like flush the toilet once per day and use about 5 litres for cooking and washing up. Doing laundry is a once per week task. 

If it's found that the person cannot have a meter fitted they can request an estimated yearly usage is worked out and that will cut the yearly bill by up to 50%, they will work it out on 50,000 litres of water per person but the SC's will be about £110 before they do the estimated bill and the water could be £90 plus meaning a £200 yearly bill. 
The figures are not an exact amount that the person could pay as different regions have different criteria and the bill could be more or less depending on the water company for the region. 

northlondonlynn

Ten years ago, when I bought my flat, I asked Thames Water to install a meter. They came to do a survey and told me it wasn't possible because I have a shared mains supply. They should have told me about the option to switch to an assessed charge rather than the rateable value charge...but they didn't. I'd never heard of an assessed charge until Martin mentioned it on the radio this morning.

I phoned Thames Water immediately. Guess what? Their retention policy means they don't keep anything beyond 6 years, so they've got no record of the 2014 survey which confirms that my property is unmeterable. I have to arrange another survey to tell us what we already know. My assessed charge will only kick in from that date. Their retention policy - and my ignorance - means it can't be backdated

Cardew

northlondonlynn said:

Ten years ago, when I bought my flat, I asked Thames Water to install a meter. They came to do a survey and told me it wasn't possible because I have a shared mains supply. They should have told me about the option to switch to an assessed charge rather than the rateable value charge...but they didn't. I'd never heard of an assessed charge until Martin mentioned it on the radio this morning.

I phoned Thames Water immediately. Guess what? Their retention policy means they don't keep anything beyond 6 years, so they've got no record of the 2014 survey which confirms that my property is unmeterable. I have to arrange another survey to tell us what we already know. My assessed charge will only kick in from that date. Their retention policy - and my ignorance - means it can't be backdated

Even when they acknowledge a survey had been carried out, the defence of the water companies has been that all the information about eligibility for an assessed tariff is contained in their(lengthy!) Terms and conditions. - which are rarely read.

There have been recurring posts on MSE from long term residents in flats paying Rateable Value charges because other residents had tried and failed to get a meter, so knew their block was unsuitable for a meter and didn't bother applying for a meter