Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

exiled99 · 27 August 2010 at 11:02PM

I have a pensioner friend living in St Leonards, Sussex. He has a rented one bed flat. He is paying £40 a month, no meter!
I am abroad but this seems very wrong. Anyone have any ideas in that area?

Cardew · 28 August 2010 at 9:05AM

exiled99 wrote: »

I have a pensioner friend living in St Leonards, Sussex. He has a rented one bed flat. He is paying £40 a month, no meter!
I am abroad but this seems very wrong. Anyone have any ideas in that area?

If he has no meter the charges are based on the old Rateable Value(RV) of the flat.

The RV was assessed on the rent the property could command(not sale value) and some flats could command a high rent.

He should get a meter fitted - the landlord should not object - and it will be much cheaper. If a meter cannot be fitted he will get an assessed charge - again much cheaper.

Ivara · 1 September 2010 at 12:38PM

Hello ..new to this forum so please forgive me if I make a boo-boo

.Almost 3 years ago we started to rent a cottage ,on the contract the water charges were included in the rent .This has worked fine ,there has been a few niggles over burst pipes etc in the winter which have taken a few days to fix but other than that no problems until last Saturday when the Landlord came to visit...they live nearby...and said as the water bill was now £700 a year we will have to start paying it ourselves.The exact words were 'What are you going to do ,pay us the £700 or add it to the rent at £70 per month?' At the time we were totally gobsmacked by the amount and the sudden request fro £700.
We live in a cottage that is situated down a farm track away from the road and with a soakaway into the nearby paddock,a water meter was fitted before we moved in.On contacting United Utilities our supplier ,I was advised that this amount is way,way above the national average and suggested that we get our hands on the bill and arrange for a meeting with the water board and our landlord to sort the matter out.
This is where the problem arises,our landlords are elderly and stinking rich and have what we have come to know as selective amnesia!!.On Saturday when we were told about the bill,my husband asked if we could see the 3 bills for the time we were here and were told 'Mmmm.....will have to see about that'..no yeah or nay...they are now at their summer residence and expect the first payment of £70 + rent on the Sept.4....advice please ...should we pay this extra or wait until they return and see what happens?.We are retired and could do without having to pay this extra,no new contract was mentioned..so can they just suddenly decide ...you pay the water now ,without offering a new contract.Sorry if I have rambled on a lot.....thanks for reading

Ivara

Cardew · 1 September 2010 at 1:26PM

You don't say how many in the cottage - but as you are retired I assume two?, but there is certainly no way that metered water with United Utilities will cost £700 a year unless you have a leak or water the garden day and night.

It is possible that they were paying low Direct debit amounts or you used a lot more water and a debit balance built up and hence the bill is a lot higher this year.

If the contract states they pay the water, then obviously you are not obliged to pay. However can they re-negotiate the rent and/or give you a new contract. It all depends on the type of tenancy you have.

Gothicfairy · 1 September 2010 at 1:28PM

First things first..Take a meter reading today and then turn everything in your property off ( no toilet flushing ) leave for 1 hour and go read the meter again, has it moved ? If no then ok next step..call UU and give them the meter reading and ask for an account to be opened in your name from today and that reading and then supply them with another read in a week and ask them to work out your adc.
Deal with the water company from today on as they can help with joint supplies etc and the meter is their property so if faulty they can and will replace it.
Once you have your adc you can go back to your landlords and show them that and get them to explain the bill. UU might also be aware that there is a joint supply anyway. Did they say anything about the meter ? Are they reading it or is it a sub meter as if the cottage was part of the farm at one point it could be on a joint supply.

That is what I would do anyway and go from there.

Gothicfairy · 1 September 2010 at 1:29PM

Cardew posted when I was typing and you could do as he / she suggests but please get a meter reading anyway and check the meter to make sure it is only recording YOUR supply

anthony_nulty · 2 September 2010 at 9:43AM

I have just had a quote from SmartSource Water, it is slightly cheaper than what i am paying, but your water company take your instalments over 10 months, SSW take them over 12 months, thus reducing cost per month, also you have to sign up to direct debit, if you stay with your water company and get into financial problems they will try to help you, so i am not going to bother. it works out about £17.00 per year savings.

Ivara · 2 September 2010 at 1:07PM

Thank you for your replies,there are only the two of us .I located the water meter last night,but couldn't take a reading as it is about 2ft down in a hedgerow and full of water!.Tonight I shall go armed with a sink plunger and see if I can take the water out and try and read the meter.Also think it may be best if we have the water account in our names if the landlord is willing to do this. We accept that we have to pay for the usage of water,but when 2 weeks to Christmas year before last we had sewarage seeping through the bathroom floor....situated downstairs..because the septic tank and soakaway had not been dealt with for years we are a little bit cautious re- our landlords knowledge of rental property laws....

Gothicfairy · 2 September 2010 at 2:00PM

I do think you would be better off dealing with them yourself from what you say, at least then you will know what is being done and said etc.

Really your landlord does not have to agree, you can call the water company yourself and open an account. They will do it over the phone for you and you could also ask them to come and read the meter and do a flow test. Say you are old, frail, pregnant...etc anything to explain why you can not do it and that they need to come out with an appointment ( as they can be difficult to get out) but once they are there you can get the flow test with them standing there and checking it.
Might work out easier for you that way.

Will-2010 · 3 September 2010 at 3:09PM

Our property has a soakaway - yet when I contacted the water company for a rebate, I was advised this was not possible due to the manner in which water charges were collected i.e. with the community charge. Is this correct ? can the Consumer Council for Water help with complaints in Scotland ? Thanks.

Cheaper Water Bills Article Discussion

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