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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think they’re having a laugh charging this

115 replies

FlyingSoap · 22/07/2024 21:03

We have recently bought a 3 bed semi with no water meter. Fixed yearly price of £582.47.
They have (somehow) worked out that although we missed the first 3 months of the year, we will be paying £62 a month for water. I think this is stupidly high for a 3 bedroom house, 2 adults and a baby. They aren’t budging on the price & saying we’ll have to just request they instal a water meter.

AIBU thinking it’s high?

OP posts:
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wakijaki09 · 26/07/2024 08:13

I pay £49 a month..2 bed council semi with 2 adults...sounds fair to me

TookTheBook · 25/07/2024 19:47

FlyingSoap · 25/07/2024 12:26

That was not my intention, why are you monitoring it? I’m very busy. I have read the replies.

Show quote history

I'm not "monitoring it". All Mumsnet threads have the option of viewing just the OPs posts so it was clear you hadn't responded despite the many many helpful replies. How ungrateful.

Original poster
FlyingSoap · 25/07/2024 12:26

TookTheBook · 24/07/2024 21:08

@FlyingSoap OP why did you post this and never return?

That was not my intention, why are you monitoring it? I’m very busy. I have read the replies.

OP posts:
TookTheBook · 24/07/2024 21:08

@FlyingSoap OP why did you post this and never return?

mandarindreams · 24/07/2024 12:43

Reading this, I'm starting to think we've got a good thing going! £36 a month, two adults and a toddler, Wessex Water.

mitogoshi · 24/07/2024 12:05

I was paying £99 a month over 8 months (think this is typical) before I moved no meter, I pay £32 a month on meter approx, we actually pay twice a year dd

mitogoshi · 24/07/2024 11:58

Sounds about right, it's based on your council tax band.

Get a meter, problem solved

MrsBlac · 24/07/2024 11:51

Gosh mine is so cheap, I’m never getting a metre installed 🤣. £365 for the year in a 6 bed 5 bath house with 2 teen dd who live in the flaming shower. I do have a soak away so maybe that’s the difference 🤷🏻‍♀️

UsernamePain · 24/07/2024 08:36

£40 per month for a family of 4 on a meter.

Ukrainebaby23 · 24/07/2024 08:33

Fixed rates are based on your house rateable value, that is what your council tax is also based on. Your council should be able totel you the rateable value of your property.

Fixed water rates are not negotiable.
You should be paying 9/12 ths of the annual fixed rate if you moved in there 3 months from April. The water company website should give more advice on how it works.

Water meters are considered better value if you have more bedrooms than people at home ( or is the other way round?) , it's a Martin Lewis advice thing and I can't quite recall.
I think there was a scheme where you could go back to fixed rate after a year but I'm not sure thats currently available.

T1Dmama · 24/07/2024 06:28

My nan was paying about this, we had a meter installed for her and it dropped to about £6 a month!

PosingPosture20 · 24/07/2024 00:15

I thought Council tax and Water Rates were over ten months, not twelve?

It doesn't matter how many months the amount due is spread over. Different councils have slightly different policies.

There are 12 months in the year, so the total annual charge - which any council or (non-metered) water bill will state - covers you for 12 months.

If you live in that property for 9 of the 12 months (from July onwards) - your total bill is therefore 9/12ths of the annual amount due.

Whether the water company then tells you you need to pay this over 9 months, or 7, or 6 is immaterial in terms of whether the amount is 'correct' or not. As long as the op's total bill is 9/12ths of the fixed annual charge, it's correct and not 'too high'.

celticprincess · 24/07/2024 00:10

Mines £38 a month with no meter for a 3 bed terrace. It was lower when we moved in. I suspect if I got a meter it would be more. 1 adult and 2 teens. One teen with additional needs where water can be run for a long long time.

FranceIsWhereItsAt · 23/07/2024 22:50

Oh, and I should add that in Wales we WERE on a meter!

FranceIsWhereItsAt · 23/07/2024 22:50

It can depend on what area of the country you live OP, when we lived in Wales last year I was paying £17 per month for 2 adults, and an acre of garden which was watered as necessary during the summer. We recently moved South, and now pay £66 p.m.

PeterPedant · 23/07/2024 22:47

Don't you pay water rates over 10 months not 12?

My water & sewage payments are over 8 months (April-November). Council tax is over 10 (April-January).

AlexandraPeppernose · 23/07/2024 22:41

Anglian water on a meter. 4 adults 1 teen £86 a month

sgtmajormum · 23/07/2024 22:33

Get a meter fitted.
Three bed end terrace, 1 adult, 2 teens. We pay £29 a month

ChubSeedsYorkie · 23/07/2024 21:58

£28.50 here for two adults and a baby with Wessex water

if you think it’s high just get a water meter installed so you only pay for what you use

nappysan · 23/07/2024 21:46

As 1 person in a 2 bedroom flat with no garden I pay more than that.

AndyPandyismyhero · 23/07/2024 21:38

In our area they fitted the meter but continued to charge per the RV. I contacted them after about nine months and they were able to tell me how much water I had used during that time. They were also able to tell me when my usage had been highest as well as the difference in cost between what I paid based on RV and what I would have paid on a meter. Even with the sewerage etc, we would have paid around 60% if the RV charge if we were charged via the meter. We've decided to make the change and I can keep a check on usage via their app. So far we are on track to pay about 69% of the RV charge.
2 adults, at least two showers every day, washing machine maybe three times a week and dishwasher three times a week. Would have been over £62 pcm, but currently looking at just over £30pcm. We don't actively save water, but don't have garden hoses or kids paddling pool.

ladygindiva · 23/07/2024 21:28

Doesn't sound expensive at all to me. I pay £54 a month, one adult, two small children. Cornwall though.

SanMarzano · 23/07/2024 21:15

SparklingPinot · 23/07/2024 21:12

YANBU but you’ll always ALWAYS pay more on a meter, don’t do it!!

No you won’t. We drastically cut our bill by getting a meter installed. You only pay more on a meter if you use more water than average for the size of your house.

SparklingPinot · 23/07/2024 21:12

YANBU but you’ll always ALWAYS pay more on a meter, don’t do it!!

Nolongera · 23/07/2024 20:52

2 of us in a 2 bedroom house on a meter, £20 a month.

Gone down since we got rid of the hose pipe.

Northumbria water.

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