To think that a £114 water bill a month is insane?

[beesandstrawberries]

I’m in a 2 bedroom small FLAT in Hertfordshire. Only me and my one child live here. I was previously paying £22 a month, and since living here for 5 years I have averaged around the £20 mark a month. Well Thames water have sent me a bill stating that I have to pay £114 a month, and when I challenged them they have said it is correct for my usage. My mum is in the same area in a 4 bed house and pays £50/£60 a month, so it definitely isn’t right so I’m just overwhelmed and stuck.

breakdown

• 2 bed flat
• 1 toilet
• shallow bath total of around 11 a week
• no dishwasher
• washing machine runs about once a day or every other day
• no garden so have no hose
• quite frugal so don’t fill bath up full ever or run taps when brushing teeth. Tap runs slow when washing up - no more than 5 minutes a day.

I'm just stuck because Thames water says it’s correct but a £92 increase a month (£1104 a year) is impossible for me to afford as I’m disabled and my child is also disabled and money is tight. I definitely don’t think it is correct, nothing has changed since last year but Thames water won’t help me and I’m so stressed!

Is it metered, and if so how does the usage compare to previous bills?

When this happened to me, I had a leaking toilet. Have you checked all your water apparatus for leaks? A rubber washer somewhere could have broken and your leaking £100s a month.

If you and your child are disabled, presumably you are getting some sort of help from the DWP?

Jeez. We have a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom and a toilet, dishwasher every evening and washing machine probably 4 times a week and pay £65 a month

We're a family of 5 and we pay about £70 so it sounds like something is wrong. Is there any chance you have a leak or the meter reads are wrong? I would get someone out if I were you.

Definitely does not sound right. Have you done your own meter reading? Take one before going to bed or if you are going away for a couple of days then recheck it before you use any water. If it has increased you probably have a leak. Good luck and come back to let us know if this helps.

That's crazy. Check for leaks .

We pay £77 a month for a 4 bedroom house. Teenage boys and husband have 10 min showers at least one a day and I have a deep filled bath.
Washing machine and dishwasher on once a day midweek and couple of times a day at the weekend.

Yanbu

Our is £130 it's a fucking joke.
Especially given the quality of the water.

You have to apply directly to the wafer company for eligiblity for support with water bills. However this sounds more like an issue of not being on a meter and an incorrect estimate, or being on a meter and it incorrectly reading usage (either due to a leak, fault in the meter or another flats water being included.)

Are you metered? You need to look at your usage rather than the price. Has your usage changed? Could you have a leak?

A few options, have you been running up a bill for a couple of years of not paying enough and they want you to pay it off over a short period of time (hence pushing the bill up).

Do you have a leak? One of our toilets doesn’t stop filling unless you do something with the flush (must get a plumber soon!).

If you are both disabled, have you looked into the water sure scheme in your area. It might cap your bill if you qualify.

I think you can get a set tariff if you are disabled and on a metre

Are you in debit if you were only paying £22 a month and now the increase includes paying that back as well? What does you account online show as what you've used vs what you've paid over last couple of years?

That can’t be right OP - by comparison we live in a 5 bed farmhouse with water going to the stables and fields and the latest water bill was ~£250 for six months - we are metered so that’s a pretty accurate reflection of our usage (I think)

I would get them to investigate. When this happened to us we discovered that they had assigned the wrong water meter to us. We ended up with £500 credit.

Is this a correct metered bill based on actual readings? If not, you need to get a correct bill.

If it correct check for leaks etc.

Also, with a disability, you may be eligible for the Wayersure scheme, which reduces bills for qualifying households

I paid £20 for a 1 bed house with no children 12 years ago, I currently pay £35 for a larger house so I'd be wondering if you've been paying too little up until now, as I'm pretty sure my water company (different part of the country) are also cheaper than Thames water.
I would want a full written explanation of the change, do you need a hand finding a complaints department number as their first line team should be able to explain why this has happened and the fact they can't is really not acceptable!

I had the same, from £40 to £70, no meter as I've been told it's not possible in my converted house.
I called them but they just don't care. I live alone, my flat is small, its absolutely ridiculous.

No this is not right.

Wessex water charged me like this. I was unwell and didn't even realise for ages. I got my money back eventually and now pay £20.

What I found was the meter readings were way off. It was investigated by the investigation team and replaced. It also turned out that they'd recorded readings saying they'd visited and checked meter when they hadn't. So they made up readings.

The only way is in writing. You have to communicate in writing.

They were leaving me waiting weeks, I dealt with the rudest cunt chop on the phone despite being so polite, a tutting and patronising young girl, no return calls. It was really poor.

I then had full resolution and refund within 5 days of my email using the formal language as advised.

Look online at their complaint procedures and start initiating it now. No more phone calls without email follow up.

If you’ve only been paying £20 a month up to now, but DM pays £50/60, have you been underpaying so now they are increasing your dd to pay for what you owe?
11 baths, even if relatively shallow, adds up tbh. I know one bath a week adds a fair bit onto out bill.

I paid £40 just gone up to £80 -no arrears. My son pays £12, gone up to £36. A friends son has increased from £35 to £110. All in completely different parts of the country. It’s seems to me that many of the water companies as increasing on production of the next bill. It’s unfathomable to me.

Ours has jumped from around £70 to £90 a month recently. My brother who lives in York said his has gone from £1200 a year to £1600 this year !

If you put in the heading if your email/letter ,Stage 1 complaint, then you're following correct process.

They have teams who come and investigate possible leaks. If there's no meter, you need a detailed understanding with evidence to support why the bill is now that amount.

I advise against the WhatsApp option personally.

I've attached email and postal address. Hopefully MN approves.

There is probably a low income/disability tariff you might be eligible for. Assuming you are with Affinity, have a look at page 20 onwards for the schemes to investigate:
https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/docs/charges/202021/Charges-Scheme-2020-2021.pdf

Are you on a meter, or do you get billed a standard rate based on rateable value etc.