Water Bills questions and comment

chicky77uk · 12 February 2004 at 9:08PM

Regarding the repair beyond the boundary that AW offer on the first 25m of pipework - as part of their customer charter they will make a 'one off' repair.

If the same stretch of pipework leaks again then it is the customer's responsibility - oh, and the 'one off' repair doesn't apply to properties less than 2 years old, AW will advise you to contact the builders...

On the subject of deregulation... Stuart is dead right about the debtors. Since water companies cannot disconnect DOMESTIC customers they are often advised by debt counsellors to make their water payments their lowest priority as, other than a CCJ, there's not much to lose as the supplier is forced to keep supplying.

Anglian Water customers who are having difficulty clearing their Aw debt may be eligible to apply to the Anglian Water Trust Fund which has been set up to help genuine cases.

Details available through the Citizens Advice Bureau.

chicky77uk · 12 February 2004 at 9:15PM

Anglian Water fit meters for free, you also have 12 months to decide to stay on a meter or go back to rateable value ,its in everybody's intrest to have a go you cant loose !

One thing to bear in mind is that if you sell your house then the new occupier is forced to go onto the meter even if you decided to revert back to rateable value related charging whilst you lived there.

This may be a factor if you have a large family home and are hoping to sell to a large family who may not want to be metered...just a thought...

deanos · 12 February 2004 at 10:26PM

One thing to bear in mind is that if you sell your house then the new occupier is forced to go onto the meter even if you decided to revert back to rateable value related charging whilst you lived there.

This may be a factor if you have a large family home and are hoping to sell to a large family who may not want to be metered...just a thought...

Yes thats correct, but some people are saving hundreds a year , i know for a fact most people dont bother asking if a property is metered before they buy a house.

redlakes · 14 February 2004 at 12:48AM

thanks for the advice

PoohBear_3 · 10 March 2004 at 1:50AM

I have had a water meter in my 4 bed house since new (14 years) and I have yet to reach the payments I was paying under the rateable value method (£300 pa then and worst year so far has been £210 pa). During this time I have brought up two children with all the water needs that they and the garden require, a water meter has proved excellent value.

Remember that if you have any concern over your water bill, discuss it first with your water company. If you are then still dis-satisfied, contact your local WaterVoice office ( see
http://www.watervoice.org.uk/aptrix/ofwat/publish.nsf/Content/navigation-watervoice-contactusenquiriesandcomplaints for the web page to get you going) or in the phone book. If they can't settle your concern then they can pass your complaint on to OFWAT.

By the way, I'm paying £17.64 per month for my payment account to Severn Trent Water so they are no ripping me off - talk to them ..... they are human, you know hehehe

PoohBear

petermyers · 7 May 2004 at 3:07PM

Please place your water bill questions and comments here

could some body please explain how this rateable value is worked out, My wife has just bought a 2 bedroomed
belonging to her mother in south shields tyne and wear
we own a 2 bedroomed house in jarrow tyne and wear,
same tax band same council, how come the r/v rate
in south shields almost double that of jarrow for people
who do not know the area these 2 places sit adjacent
to each other resulting in a 30-35% difference in water bills.
Regards petermyers@blueyonder.co.uk

seaglimpses · 14 June 2004 at 2:24PM

Hi, I have a one bedroom flat and live with my partner - our (metered) water usage is £30 a month (360yr) - so I don't know how some of you are paying so little!

Anyway, their clerical error incorrectly altered my DD and racked up a £300 debt - we increased payments to £50 month to clear it (we are students and have no money to clear it in one go) 6 months later and £100 cleared they are now demanding £75 a month!!!

How can water be this expensive!!!!!!

lisyloo · 14 June 2004 at 2:28PM

I would first suggest that you check you are being charged for the right meter as your bill sounds too high.

I just found out at the weekend that I am being charged for my neigbours usage and he is being charged for mine as they have mixed up the meters.

Do the following test.

One of you go outside and look at the meter.
Check the meter number with that on your bill to make sure you are looking at the right one.

One of you turn on the tap whilst the other is looking at the meter - you should see a little wheel spinning round fast.
Turn off the tap and you should see the wheel stop (this will take 2 people because one will have to be watching whilst the other operates the tap).

If the little wheel doesn't spin and stop along with the tap being turned on and off then you are being charged for someone else's water.

lisyloo · 14 June 2004 at 2:30PM

BTW - your bill sounds too high.
We use water fairly freely - water plants in the summer, use a hot tub, have baths every day etc. and our bill is not as high as yours.

The other possibility is a leak.
You could get the water company to check for leaks, however there may be some expense involved for yourself.

seaglimpses · 15 June 2004 at 12:02PM

I have now checked it's the right meter and checked for a leak and it's neither of those - does anyone know if it's possible that the flat above me are running off my meter in error? They are heavy users (we aren't) and their meter reads less than half of ours! South West Water now think our annual consumption is over £500!!!! Making us heavy users for a family of 4 - and there is only 2 of us!!!!! :-/

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