Exceptionally high unmetered water bills

[Mcbemused]

Hi, I'm trying to find out what the average cost for unmetered water is in the UK but without success. I have complained to my water company that I am being overcharged with a bill for 2024-25 of £1144 costing approximately £100 per month, which would have risen to £1470 this coming year if we had not opted for a meter. This is three times as much as my neighbours - same size house, 2 people - pay on meter. Obviously we have switched to a meter now, but I still feel that this is excessive and wonder what others pay, non-meter, for a 3-bed semi in England?

Four bed detached (small though) in NW England would have been £92 per month. I had a meter installed (which is what they want you to do I suppose).

@Mcbemused post re-written as answer was in OP.

In England if it's unmetered its based on Rateable Value (RV) in 1973(!!) and is charged as poundage i.e. you pay so much for each £1 of RV.

That's how it works.

Unless there's a mistake in the calculations there's no concept of excessive charges*. Unless you are a very high user you're better of metred.

Occasionally people are billed on estimated usage, this is usually where it's nor possible to fit a meter.

Thank you, vexedofvirginiawater - can you tell me, please, where you found this information as that is the sort of info I have been trying (and failing) to find. I need to check if they have the correct RV but people just keep saying I can't change it by having it reassessed. I could, presumably, change it by pointing out they have been using the wrong figure. My RV on the bill is given as £291, but what does that mean? And where do I check if it's correct? If Vexed is correct that a 4-bed semi in NW England is £92, then my 3-bed semi shows a figure 3x that!

I have dug out my original bill (the one which prompted me to get a meter) and I can't see anything on it which indicates my rateable value. Just says the total for the whole year is £1107.00. Mine is a detached too - not a semi.

@Mcbemused Rateable Value relates to the General Rates; the way Local Government was funded before the Poll Tax and then Council Tax.

Every home was give a Rateable Value based on some pretty esoteric assumptions about what it could be let for. The values are those from 1973 which was the last time they were updated.

If you want to check the figure for you home is right then either your Council or the Valuation Office Agency, part of HMRC, should be able to find it.

Thanks, Bromtotoo, but that is what I know already. The problem is, finding out what that RV figure that stopped being used in 1990 was for my house at that time. All anyone tells me is that it is the figure that was used before Council Tax Banding - information I already know! I need to know the figure itself, not why it was used but the water company, the Council, Ofwat, Gov.UK, just keep repeating why it came to be used; how it's not possible to have it reassessed, but not what I need to know: what the figure was that was used as an RV for my house in 1990 so that I can check it against the figure the water company are actually using.
If anybody can tell me how I find that out, I would be most grateful.

Severn Trent customer in Midlands. 4 bed detached. 3 adults. 3 showers per day and probably 5 loads of washing a week. 2 adults WFH so usage for loos a bit higher. Meter for 25 years. Costs about £1000 a year.

I'm in Wales. My unmetered bill went up from £89.11 to £118.55 per month for a 4 bed semi and large garden. My family situation means that a meter would cause so many arguments so until my kids finally leave, I'm stuck paying it.
I think they want to force everyone onto a meter then they'll rack up the charges for that.

Yes @SadCarpetMess this is what I think too. I know they guarantee the lower price for 2 years, but after that there's no going back so nothing to stop them from hiking the bills then. I still swapped to a meter though, but in my case I live alone - with regular visits from DS2 who stays overnight, so I thought £92 a month was a bit much.

Ours is £850 for the coming year. When we enquired about installing a water meter we were advised against installing as we’re high users.

Think yourself lucky, we pay £174.58 a month for our water!!! 😲

It should say on your bill.

There's a sum that looks like 300x1.8 that's the rateable value of 300 and a poundage of £1.8 per £ of RV.

If you Google your water company and rateable value you should be able to find all of the different unmetered water tarrifs (with and without sewage, etc)

I did this this week for SWW in case that's your water company, I can get the link for you.

All water bills gone up by 40%.

My water bill went up to over £1200 two of us in a 2.5 bed flat. Got them round to install a meter which they said they couldn’t do so have put me on a new tariff which in an average of what a property this size would consume. Less than £700! Why wasn’t that my bill then? Why did you think it was ok to charge me £500 extra. Just because. Wankers.

There will not be a Rateable Value for 1990 because the poll tax came in during 1989. They couldn't set a RV because the system changed from a tax on the property to a tax on the occupants. The RV was set by councils during the days they were responsible for the water supply and sewerage services before regional water companies emerged.

That's why every property built or undergone conversion since 1989 is metered. Basically, because they dont have a RV!
Pre 1989 constructed properties have the option to be metered, with certain restrictions on reverting to RV bills (they usually keep the meter in situ and just amend the account).

When the council tax came into force after council tax ended it was decided not to base a method on charging based on it because it would have resulted in 3 different ways to bill the public.

Plus metering is fairer. You use more- you pay more (with sewerage being charged proportionally). Eg for every 100m3 of water that comes into the house , they assume- because they don't actually meter sewage- 95m3 goes back down the sewer, with 5% being list to evaporation. The unit cost for sewerage charges is higher because sewage costs more to treat than the water supply.

The actual rate that the bills are set by Ofwat . There's an equation used and there's a variable in that mathematical equation called the K factor. Ofwat tells water companies what the K factor is for that year and that determines the price.

Literally the last para of my reply.

The Valuation Office Agency is the 'custodian' of the historic list.

When the RV was used for local government finance there was a system to get the values changed by making a proposal to change to the VOA. If not accepted it could be appealed to a Local Valuation Court and then the Lands Tribunal. I worked in the LT from 1979 to 84 so saw these appeals at close quarters.

I doubt very much that any opportunity exists now to get RV changed.

I have screenshot that part of my bill but can't see anything I understand to be RV - what am I missing?

£870 for three bed semi. Probs should have switched to metered as it's only my dad.it seemed high to me, we have a four bed semi and six of us and pay about £62 a month.

I can't have a meter (plastic pipe that the water Co couldn't find to dig up) so I'm on a special rate, that's going up to £54 a month.

Neighbour who has never had a meter has received a bill for almost £180 A MONTH. Called up to request a water meter, the earliest they can hook him in is September. Insane.

The rateable value is £233.

The 1.668 is the poundage. Basically every £1 back when the rateable value was set is now worth £1 and 66.8p

Edit to add : and your sewage is changed at £2 and 66.9p for every £1 of rateable value.

Charged, not changed!

Thank you @GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut - I was naively looking for something like RV next to a figure, but in fact it was how you described it in an earlier post - doh (sorry)!