Water bill increase - rateable vs assessed charge?

[NewPlumSloth]

I live in an area where, unfortunately, I have to deal with Thames Water (TW). Bill came through and - eek - the increase! Obviously, I was expecting a significant increase but this is astronomical and above the “average increase” that TW have put out there.

Due to shared pipes I cannot have a water meter and am on an assessed charge. I have done the calculations and the rateable value looks to be cheaper than the assessed charge for this year. I would be surprised if I could move back to rateable value, as I expect that is a thing of the past, but does anyone know if that is possible?

I have contacted TW and spoken to two different people who could not help. Surely someone knows the answer as a simple “yay or nay”?

I’m metered with Thames Water. My monthly charge, singie user, is going up £16 per month.🙄

I’m with southern water who are similarly awful.

just had our new dd figure - a 68% increase on what we currently pay. I contacted them to ask why it was so much more than the published 46% rise ie do we owe them money? Oh no, they said, your account is £400 in CREDIT! They have now revised my dd to less than I’m currently paying 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is after them trying to put it up 6 months ago ‘because you don’t owe anything now but bills are going up in April’!

So in short, they’re all cowboys & definitely check details with them don’t just accept any rise ‘because prices are going up’ (which is what I nearly did).

@Boomer55 - the increases (although expected to a point) are terrible. If they were a forward thinking and environmentally sustainable company I could forgive it, but it is not so!

@Thewholeplaceglitters that’s awful! I have called them and they are standing firm on the amount payable and what I have to pay is what I have to pay, but customer service don’t seem to know what they are being asked about assessed charge vs rateable. They answer a question with a question which is unrelated e.g. “can I move to the rateable charges” answer: “can I set you up with a direct debit?” Not helpful!

Not sure how your supply is shared, and you've probably looked at all options, but i also have a shared supply with the house next door.
Obviously this shared supply does split at some point, as we both have individual stop cocks under our own sinks.
So that's where I had to have the water meter fitted, under the sink as it's where my supply comes into my house.

Thank you @Usernamesarenoteasy, what you have said makes total sense but for some reason TW ruled it out as an option.

I’ve heard back from customer service (must be working abroad or they work crazy hours) who confirmed my calculations are correct and the rateable charge is cheaper, but tough because once you are on an assessed charge the tariff cannot be reverted. Useful to know but doesn’t help with these constant bill hikes.

Yeah it’s gone up from £31 per month to £47 per month. a (Single, metered user). Meanwhile the sewage is still being dumped, and pipes are leaking everywhere, by TW. 🙄🙄🙄

I have received my water bill yesterday and it's gone up by £175.43 and I am thinking of having a water meter put in, As anyone else had a water meter put in an saved money by doing so.

@flowersfromheaven mines gone up nearly £200. Yorks water. I’d be interested to find out abt meters too, there are two of us in the house. Problem is my son has asd and enjoys water so has about five showers every day. Water is essential service and it shouldn’t be allowed.