Free water meters

[manjukwai]

To all single mums who may not have a garden or Mums who are now on their own or there is even two of you please get a free water meter .They dont like to publicise it(see below)but you can in a lot of cases with conservation as well save huge amounts.Ask them to send details.

These are the people who are supposed to look after the Publics interests. All I wanted was the savings to be included with the annual bill. below to be included with United Utilities annual bill.

JM(North West Water) explained that NWT would include with the bill a statement that there was a meter option available and ask its customers if they would like any further information. JM said that they had considered not explaining that a meter would be fitted free at this stage. However, people requesting further information would receive literature stating that the meter option was free of charge.

The CSC(Consumer Services Council) supported a low key approach in promoting the free meter entitlement.

CW(I assume Ofwat) asked how NWT would promote the free meter option to unmeasured customers experiencing payment difficulties who could benefit from moving to a measured charge. JM explained that if an unmeasured customer is having difficulty in paying its bill NWT will advise the customer that it may be beneficial for them to have a meter installed i.e. depending on the rateable value of its property and typical usage. CW stressed that they should continue to promote the meter option to vulnerable customers.?(How? Why not to everybody)

4 The notes of the meetings on 20 July and 17 November 1999 included
representatives from North West Water, the Customer Services Committee
(CSC) and Ofwat. The notes cover customer information on meter provision and
support to vulnerable groups. It is for companies to present this information to
customers. A review of company customer literature shows that at least since
2008 information on free meters was openly available.
Roger Dunshea, Director of Finance and Business Services
The Solicitor for Ofwat says this basically has remained Ofwats policy to this present day.

I think the rule of thumb is that if you have the same number of people as bedrooms (or fewer people than bedrooms) then metered water will be cheaper than them just guessing how much you use. If you have more people than bedrooms then their estimate will be correct or possibly cheaper than if they actually measured how much you use.

I thought there was a move to encourage everyone to move to a water meter. New homes are being built with them as standard. Moves to make them compulsory for existing customers have been rejected so far but as this typically alarmist article from the Daily Mail in Janurary shows, the idea is still up for discussion.

Our bill would treble if they made us have a meter. So you can forget that!

round here everyone is getting them. no choice

when we first moved here we had ours fitted and it was cheaper than unmetred. that was with me, dp ds1 in the house. think it was still cheaper when we had ds2 as well

We had to get one when we moved to our current house, probably is more expensive then non metered.

My mum lives on her own in a two bed house, I tiold her for years she would be better off with a meter. SHe finally did get one and then complained at me for not making her do it sooner as she saved £'s/

My tenants changed to a meter from rating, and I won't be able to change when back in the house, which irritates me no end as I wanted it to stay on rating.

Scary teacher - should have included the water bill with the rent!!

I may be being thick here but why is it that with water you can pay a rate but with gas and electricity you pay for what you use? My mum's neighbours, there is about 3 adults and 4 or 5 kids in the house, so they use way more water than my mum and stepdad, yet I expect they pay the same anount of water rates.

We are paying more now than we used to pay when we were non metered. Think our yearly bill used to be about £144, now we are paying £360 a year.

@purpleknittingmum... for the same reason as 3 adults and 4 kids living in a house pay the same council tax as the 2 adults living in the same-size house next door, even though they probably use more of the services that the council tax pays for. Someone once tried making it that you paid more according to the number of people in the household but that was deemed to be 'not fair' and there was a bit of bother :)

When we all paid 'rates' rather than council tax, the ratable value of the house was based on size, number of bathrooms/bedrooms and other factors... and the water rates were calculated from that. If you had another bathroom installed, you'd be reasessed and would pay more rates and more water rates Now we pay council tax and water rates based on the value the property was 20 years ago and it doesn't often get reassessed.

Oh yes, forgot about poll tax I did think I was being a bit thick!

Poll Tax was a long time ago... :) But your point about paying according to consumption is, of course, totally fair... just won't be popular with anyone whose bill looks like it will go up rather than down.

We've been compulsary metered, but don't have to use the meter. If we sell the house though the next people will have no choice but to be on metered.

I am sure I had to pay poll tax, not for long though, never paid it when I lived with my parents, they then divorced and I lived with my mum, and I am sure it was then I had to pay it, so that would have been about late 1990 or 1991. I now remember cancelling my direct debit as the council took two lots of money out and I used to go to the office to pay it as it wasn't far from where we lived!

I'm staying away from meters as long as possible; with five of us in the house our water bill would definitely increase.

But it won't be long before they are forced on us, and much as I don't fancy paying more, it would definitely focus us on reducing our water usage.

Scary teacher - should have included the water bill with the rent!!

Had I thought about it, I would have done RedHelen; the tenants didn't even ask the Letting Agents - just did it, which irritated me, as I would have liked the option to refuse and pay the water rates myself.