Water bills?

It might be illegal for them to cut you off, but they are becoming as bad as council tax for issuing court summons for being 5 days late on a payment now! The constant 4 plus times a day phone calls and letter and emails for even i day late is beyond intimidating

I am with Southern Water (bastards) for wastewater and charges have gone up over 50% per cubic metre! We are coastal and the sea is pumped full of poo constantly. Hate them.

There's a time limit to revert back to unmetered so check with your water company how long you have.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3270188/options-for-having-water-meter-removed

£114 with recent increases, no meter.
Just switched to meter - surely it can't be worse! (Will switch back if it is).

Do I win? £80 a month unmetred one bedroom flat

Does anyone here work for a water company? Am curious as to why, if they screwed up by not doing maintenance and dumping raw sewage in rivers etc, why it is we the consumer are being penalised? I just wrote to mine and asked to be disconnected as cannot afford food AND water, buying large bottles and saving rainwater gonna be far far cheaper for me

Not necessarily - we’re a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) with SWW and, as I said in my previous comment, our bill is around £180 every 6 months on a meter.

For us with 6 in our family the meter is cheaper

Agree. Can’t be with south west water, far too cheap!

That’s shocking. Clearly your charges are rediculous. I’d contact them in writing and advise that I wouldn’t be paying my bill going forward until the issue is sorted out. If you are metered There is a possibility that there is a leak somewhere, if you’re not metered then get one put in. It is illegal for water companies to cut off your supply for non payment. Speak to Citizens Advice for help.

What's the alternative, though, if people genuinely cannot afford to pay the increasing bills from the water companies?

Should they just go without clean water, or have to walk miles and back to a well - like people in very poor countries still have to, and which charities like Water Aid are thankfully trying to make a thing of the past?

Well obviously. But the water companies seem to randomly hike DDs to a ridiculous amount with no proof the customer is using that amount. My DS had his water company hike bill from £30 a month to £80. Totally disregarded the fact he was nearly £100 in credit having paid £30 for the previous 6 months

£55 a month on a meter. Three adults, two WFH so kettle refilled regularly, washing machine and dishwasher used most days, at least one of us has a shower most days. Fish pond topped up regularly when required, dog has fresh water twice a day usually.

I'm like you. I might try calling too...

Ours went up to £96 a month on a standard tariff. Enquired about a water meter but they can’t fit one in this property. The assessment based on circumstances dropped it by £300 a year! It is worth enquiring if you think you use less than they charge for.

£153 per month. Family of 4. It’s a ridiculous amount I think. I’m really not happy with it, but what can you do. There’s no competition to move to and you need water and i refuse to ration it but we aren’t going needlessly mad with it. Sorry should have said. SW.

That can't be with South West Water.

I'm on my own, daily shower, work from home, dishwasher on 2/3 times a week and washing machine twice a week and I pay £52 a month, metered.

And if they are, then people should pay for what they use. Not call up claiming they can't afford it whilst using the water which is what the previous poster seems to be implying.

Otherwise we could all call up saying we can't afford what we use.

Surely they should base it on actual usage. If they tried doing that with myDD I'd just not have a dd set up, save the money each month and pay when the bill came

It's interesting (and good news) how a number of people have reported that, after telling the water companies that they simply can't afford to pay the price asked, they've had it significantly reduced.

It does rather make it look like they demand what they think they can get away with, but it's all quite arbitrary, really.

I can't believe that, in one of the richest countries in the world, in 2025, lots of people are potentially priced out of being able to afford water in their homes.

Can somebody please remind me exactly why the government ever thought it was a good idea that private monopoly companies should be able to cash in and heavily profit from ordinary people's need for such a basic essential of life?

Hi OP, my bill also went up to £60 per month. I contacted them and explained it was too much and unaffordable. Its just me and 2 girls. It's now been reduced to £35. I am sure if you speak with them, they may be able to assist in some way. Hope this helps x

If the leak is within the perimeter of your property the. It’s the owner’s responsibility to repair the leak not the water company therefore having a meter makes no difference. We recently had a leak meaning our usage for 6 months was the same as the previous 2 1/2 years; once it was repaired by our landlords insurance company, we had to take readings for 3 weeks and then they calculated what we would have used if the leak hadn’t happened. It worked out to be 1m3 more than the other bills so their formula for it is pretty accurate. They then reduced our bill to what it would have been if we had used the recalculated amount of water.

Wasn’t Utility Warehouse was it? They use strange ways to determine your monthly DD payment (and then tell customers that they have unlimited usage for that fixed price - they really don’t and people end up in serious debt because of it!) rattan than asking what your usage was for the previous 12 months which is a much better guesstimate of predicting future usage!

Same here 2 bed house, went on to a meter a couple of months ago- bill now £18 a month. Wish I’d done it ages ago!

I think I may be the winner.
I’m with south west water & my water bill is £174.59 a month!!! 😳