Thames Water

[nemogbr]

I have called these people constantly since january 2006 for my water metre. I was disputing my water charges.

They finally sent me a letter stating that they will cut off my supply if I do not pay the £400.00 "I owe them".

I was advised that it is within the law and they will also charge me if they have to break the door down.

I am being charged £100.00 per month until April 2007 when it will be reduced to the "normal" charge. I'm not even sure how much since they will be increasing their prices.

I have given up on the water metre since they failed to turn up twice.
They supposedly came after the designated time and I had to get to work.

Am I within my rights to ask for the charges to be lowered since at the moment £100.00 a month for water I haven't even used is a bit much to swallow.

They told me that I have to pay this by April since it supposed to be a new financial year????? Don't really get that explanation.

[banking idiot]

I have just done some research for you as I belived that water companies were not alowed to cut supply anymore.

Can companies still disconnect customers for not paying their bills?
No. Since 1 July 1999, when the Water Industry Act 1999 came into effect, water companies in England and Wales have not been allowed to disconnect domestic customers for non-payment of their bills.

Here is a link to the website that I found for you:
Consumer Council for Water : Consumer Council for Water

Hope this helps
Banking Idiot

Originally Posted by nemogbr

I have called these people constantly since january 2006 for my water metre. I was disputing my water charges.

They finally sent me a letter stating that they will cut off my supply if I do not pay the £400.00 "I owe them".

I was advised that it is within the law and they will also charge me if they have to break the door down.

I am being charged £100.00 per month until April 2007 when it will be reduced to the "normal" charge. I'm not even sure how much since they will be increasing their prices.

I have given up on the water metre since they failed to turn up twice.
They supposedly came after the designated time and I had to get to work.

Am I within my rights to ask for the charges to be lowered since at the moment £100.00 a month for water I haven't even used is a bit much to swallow.

They told me that I have to pay this by April since it supposed to be a new financial year????? Don't really get that explanation.

[nemogbr]

Disconnection

7. Until now, if consumers did not pay their water and sewerage bills, water companies had the power to disconnect the supply. Water companies also argued that they were not prohibited from restricting the amount of water available for a consumer's use if they did not pay their bill. The Act removes the power to disconnect water supply for non-payment, or to limit the supply with the intention of enforcing payment, from a list of different premises. These premises are private dwelling houses, caravans, houseboats, houses in multiple occupation and sheltered accommodation (where these are someone's main home) and children's homes, residential care homes, prisons and detention centres, schools, premises used for children's daycare, institutions of further and higher education, hospitals, nursing homes, GPs' and dentists' surgeries (including surgeries set up as primary care pilot schemes) and premises occupied by the emergency services.
Basis of water charging - unmeasured charges

8. For properties built before 1990, where consumers pay on an unmeasured basis for water and sewerage services, their charges are usually calculated by reference to the rateable value of the property. Under section 145 of the Water Industry Act 1991, companies were prevented from continuing to base charges for water and sewerage services on rateable value after 31 March 2000

Thank you.

That is very helpful.

I'll see about calling them and having my direct debit reduced.

Advice received from friends; is now, to not have a metre installed.

On my own I only have showers and use the water sparingly, but if I end up with a "flatmate"; she might prefer baths.

[banking idiot]

Did you get that from the website I pointed you too?

Regards
Banking Idiot

[OscarK]

I too am querying my Water Bill with Thames Water. I enquired about having water meter installed and was sent all the information. On reading the table of water usage and relevant charges, I realised that we were being charged on a high rate, for 3 people living in a house. This includes daily use of washing machine/dishwasher & more than 5 baths or more than 15 showers per person per week, which for 3 people would total 45 showers!
There are 2 of us living in the house, both professional workers and one of us is away for at least 25 weeks of the year.
I use the washing machine over the weekend and the dishwasher probably once/twice a week. By my reconing we should be in the low usage bracket and paying £210 per year and not £359 as we have been .....
So, I called Thames Water to query this and was told by a very stroppy telephonist that the rates have been set by the Inland Revenue and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Thames Water don't refund overpayments and the only option would be to fit a meter.
I asked if I could prove we had overpaid would they do anything about it and she said (in amongst her sighs of disapproval) - NO - we don't refund.
I asked for the Director of Customer Services name and also who they were governed by and have written to both of them wanting a resolution to my problem of overpayment.
I also believe that we were overcharged in our last property and I am now looking into that too.
I have heard nothing from Thames Water

Perhaps Thames Water need to be investigated ........ and maybe their charges should be made public - because if you don't ask, you certainly don't get .... What happened to the customer rights, I wonder?!

Oh - this is my first post and I'm glad I've found you via the BBC Website - thank you!

[nemogbr]

Thanks for the new information guys.

Makes me even more interested about the charges levied.

[Challenging]

Hello
Water companies ar not allowed to disconnect a domectic customer as this is prevented by legislation. They are allowed to disconnect commercial properties. Water charges for domestic customers are either:

Based upon the rateable value of a property which was set by the old Ratings Office (was part of Inalnd Revenue and nothing to do with your local authoity council tax bands). If based upon raeable value there is a set tariff for water multiplied by every £ per rateable value, and a set tariff for sewerage, also multiplied by every pound of rateable value. There is also a standard charge to cover billing & Surface Water Highways Drainage.

If you are on a meter, then you are purely charged for every cubic metre of water used and once again, there is a charge applied for water per cubic metre & charge for the sewerage per cubic metre. There is also a charge applied for billing etc and this is set by your water company

[OscarK]

I have now received a reply from Thames Water to the letter I sent them querying the fixed charge for water services. The news isn't good (why did I think any other way!). I have copied the letter below ...

"At the moment you pay a fixed charge for water services adn this is based on the rateable value of you rhome. The Inland REvenue's valuation offices set all property rateable values up to 31 March 1990, and they represented the amount of rent that could be charged for the property at the time of valuation. Therefore, your bills aren't directly related to the amount of water you use, the number of people living in your home or how many fittings or appliances you use (why then did the chart specifically quote this? )
Many of our household customers still pay charges on the traditional rateable value basis and some find this method preferable. however, anyone who would rather pay for water according to the amount they use can request a water meter. We install meters free of charge, and we include information about the metering option on the back of our bills.
You believe your bills would be lower if you were paying by meter, and you may be right. however, this doesn't mean that the bills you are paying now are wrong. The rateable value tariff is a valid method of charge and we have acted properly in billing you in the way. In the circumstances, we would not consider refunding your past bills.
Although we are happy to offer customers the facility to pay by meter, the decision to install one remains entirely optional. Now that you have requested a meter, we will carry out a survey of your supply to assess whether it can be metered. If you plumbing is suitable we will switch your bills over to metered charges from the date the water meter is installed.
So it appears that unless we all get water meters fitted, Thames Water have every right to overcharge us by extortionate amounts of money.
I still don't think this is fair, but am not sure I can do anything more about this.
Just thought you would like to know the outcome.

[Gertie100]

Just wanted to ask a daft question which I have been thinking about lately - if all the water companies decided to force all households in UK to have water meters, could they be stopped by being able to prove in court how much water is wasted by their inability to maintain their pipework?

[nemogbr]

I should have realised that they cannot just cut my water connection willy nilly.

I even went to the Citizens Advise Bureau about this and my information is Thames Water can seek a County Court Judgement against me.

Now the information is that even if I have a meter, I won't get a refund?

The only reason I wanted a meter was to reduce my charges.

I live in a high rise and I found out that certain neighbours don't even pay for water.

I feel like a fool for allowing this company to bully me.

[Gertie100]

Who doesn't pay for their water? Or are we talking about students? (Can't remember if I did, it was so long ago!!)

[nemogbr]

As I posted before High Rise.

Certain number of them don't pay for water and the Council do not have to cooperate with the Water company.

How can they seek a CCJ against an address if they do not have the name of the occupier?

[OscarK]

SUCCESS!
I thought I would let you know that yesterday we received a letter from Thames Water cutting our standing order in half and bringing it down to £224 per year as opposed to £359. However no offer of refund on the past over charges.
So I would recommend to everyone that can to get a water meter installed and then you pay for exactly what you use!