Thames Water Bill Harassment

[Charlize43]

Is anyone else being harassed by a debt management company for their water bill?

My Thames Water Bill increased by £200 in April (to around £800 pa, unmetered) and that's a huge increase and I've struggled to pay it, but I have been sending monthly payments of between £60-80 every months. Some months I could only afford to pay £50 and others more.

Next thing I know is that they've passed my details to a company called LCS that has been harassing me relentlessly, with letters and phone calls.

It's not my fault that Thames Water have no money for infrastructure repairs because the CEO and Senior Management were too busy awarding themselves bonuses every few months. How the hell does one suddenly pull £200 out of nowhere?

Why is water so expensive in the UK? It's been raining non-stop for the last week. This isn't the Sahara...

Would you be better off an a meter and are you possibly eligible for their Social Tariff https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help/account-and-billing/financial-support

Seek advice from CAB or similar about how to handle the debt collectors.

It's rotten OP. Try the Social Tariff. Good luck.

I pay (and my Thames Water account clearly states that I pay) 6 monthly. I paid the last bill in May. TW then issued a random estimated bill in June, can't explain what it is for, and unsurprisingly I have refused to pay it. They've chased repeatedly but I will pay my bill in full at the end of Nov when due.

TW are bankrupt. I think they are just issuing random bills in the hope that they can stiff unsuspecting customers for some money. Dreadful company.

Get a meter installed.

They never read my meter for years then hit me with a £600 bill saying I owed them, they then took this huge sum by dd without my agreement.

I said I needed a payment plan but they took it in one fell swoop!

Offer to pay in monthly instalments.

I am paying in monthly instalments but I am loathe to set up a direct debit as sometimes companies then change them to ensure that you build up huge credit.

You need to just look at what you owe, and pay that, plus the current bill. Talk to them.

We all know TW are rip off artists, but it still has to be paid.

Unfortunately if you don't keep up regular payments, which will cover the actual bill, then you will be 'chased'. Can you look into getting a water meter?

but you're not on a meter so this won't happen! It's a fixed rate based on the council tax band of your property. It's nothing like gas & electric.
If you "under occupy" i.e. live in a larger / more expensive property with less people, or are a relatively low user of water (small household, quick showers etc) then you'd probably be better off getting a meter installed.

I apply for a water meter, see if there are any social tariffs you are entitled too. As much as Water Companies are raising prices it has been a really dry year and most water sources are low, especially in the south, a weeks ( or even a month) continuous rain isn’t going to be enough to restore the water levels

Could you write me a cheque please or do you think I'm just going to pull the additional £200 out of thin air? Would you just suggest that I don't eat for a month or put myself on OnlyFannies?

But it wasn't a lump sum of £200, it was £17 extra a month and as you haven't been able to to pay that extra they've decided to chase you. It sounds as though you were struggling to keep up with your bills if that increase has pushed you over the edge - is there any way you can up your earnings a little to help? Any evening shifts in a local pub (not only fans!)?

No, as a lone widow, my metered bill has gone up £30 per month. I loathe TW. But, they still have to be paid.

Work out a plan with them. 🙄

"Why is water so expensive in the UK? It's been raining non-stop for the last week. This isn't the Sahara..."

Because we keep selling off reservoirs to hold the water and not replacing them. It's all well and good being in a wet country, but that's of sod all use if you have nothing to store the water in.

From gov.uk:

Government steps in to build first major reservoirs in 30 years
New reservoirs will supply three quarters of a million homes and unlock the building of tens of thousands more as part of the Plan for Change

This immediate step delivers on this government’s commitment to fast-track the delivery of nine new reservoirs

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-steps-in-to-build-first-major-reservoirs-in-30-years

From a Southern Water document:

We have 207 service reservoirs (including 10 water towers) A number of our treated water storage assets are reaching the end of useful asset life leading to increased CRI risk. These structures are between 120 and 180 years old and will need to be decommissioned between 2023 and 2030 based on asset condition assessments taken from recent structural inspections. With a greater focus on resilience, we need to resolve the challenges of having five geographically discrete areas with little inter-connectivity. Without action these reservoirs will need to be removed from service, reducing storage capacity and reducing our resilience.

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/05/07/southern-water-ration/

From the news article:

Managing director of Southern Water Tim Mcmahon has told the public to ration water in spring time hot weather. But water companies sold off 35 reservoirs in just five years, making £26 million from flogging what were public assets. That’s before Margaret Thatcher privatised them in 1989.

Southern Water: asset stripping

Reservoirs that once provided water for dry weather have now been converted to for-profit housing, as well as fishing locations. Ignoring the blatant asset stripping, Southern Water’s Mcmahon said:
If you look at the south-east of England, it’s drier than Sydney, Istanbul, Dallas, Marrakesh. We have got a very densely populated area and we need to start investing to cater for that.
We need to reduce customers’ usage. Otherwise we will have to put other investments in place, which will not be good for our customers and might not be the best thing for the environment.
In other words, water companies sold off the reservoirs and then passed on the later costs to the public through higher bills.

A 2018 document shows Southern Water will decommission 43 of 93 reservoirs between 2023 and 2030. Yet it only plans to build one more in the coming years with Thames Water. This suggests that for-profit companies are incapable of maintaining vital infrastructure that the country needs.
And it’s not just the reservoirs losing water. In 2021, water firms lost more than 1 trillion litres through leaky pipes.

‘Extracting value’
Speaking in parliament in March, Labour MP Clive Lewis said:
In the 35 years before privatisation, almost 100 reservoirs were built. In the 35 years since privatisation, not one major English reservoir has been built… instead of investing in resilience they’ve extracted value. £75 billion paid out in dividends while pipes leak, rivers choke and the public pays the price. My honourable friends says ‘how can we afford it’, how can not afford it?
The latest research from Greenwich University found that the UK public would save £5 billion per year on water bills through the government bringing water back into public ownership. And that figure would be higher once it didn’t include paying off nationalisation costs.

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/media/dfllhw3c/ta11wn05-business-case-service-reservoirs.pdf

^ 'water companies sold off 35 reservoirs in just five years, making £26 million from flogging what were public assets.'

Thank you for posting that.

That is scandalous! These people are crooks and should be in jail.

The UK government can't afford to privatise the water network back. They've got them over a barrel. All the while that is the case, nobody is going to jail.