Help. How much do you pay?

A question about : Help. How much do you pay?

Hello i'm new here been lurking for a while but needing advice please.

I have just realised how expensive my water bill is. Ј588.07 per year
Does this sound right i have googled it and lots of people seem to pay between 8 and 30 per month, I have phoned Welsh Water to check if they have me listed as a company or something but no. It is based on a rateable value back in the 70's when clearly there must have been a swimming pool under the garage. Ha ha. I understand that different areas vary greatly but didnt realise it was so bad. It's quite ironic that its so expensive as Wales is known for its rain.

Cheers all

Best answers:

• Hi tiredredhead,
  Those of us paying lower water bills are usually metred customers. There's 3 of us in my house and despite water charges having gone up, I pay about 18-20 pounds per month for water as opposed to the 500-odd pounds per year water rates. It may be worth your while asking to have a water meter fitted - see Martin's article about it.
  Cheers.
• Hia - I've been having similar arguments with Wales Water. Mine is rated at Ј387.71 or Ј38 a month, which seems ridiculous for a single lady with no water-guzzling appliances, who spends less on gas and electric!
  I have ordered a water meter, but there's a long waiting list - I'd get on it ASAP if I were you
• My water bill used to be Ј30 a month, I got a water meter fitted last year and got my bill yesterday for the last quarter and it was Ј29!! I live on my own so that was my best option to have a meter fitted.
• My water bill for the year is over Ј800.00 pounds
  there is 5 of us in the house ,so i doubt a meter would help us :confused:
• Mine is £312 approx family of 4 we are careful what we use but do wash car and water garden occasionally
• Family of 5 here and we pay Ј39 pm on water meter.
• I'm single in a new 3 bed house. Couple of baths per week, showers every day, dishes every second day and 2 big loads of washing per week.
  Over 5 months I have paid Ј12 per month and I'm now in credit
• there is me, OH and our 6 year old and we are on a meter and pay Ј44 per month as well as 16 off arrears so a HUGE Ј60 a month. I have phoned to check on this and they say thats about average for 3 people. We have a dishwasher,washing machine and bath (no shower at the moment). I was thinking about changing from the meter as we would probably save money.
• Having read a recent article in the News of the World titled "water rip off", I contacted my supplier, Anglian water, and have switched onto a "low user rate". I was surprised to find that as a low user I was entitled to a discount on my bill. I am now in credit.
  I would advise others to do the same. The tariff is called SOLOW.
  Apparently it applies also to those that do not have a meter as they can switch you to an assessed charge, based on your household occupancy instead of propery value.
• 2 people ... Ј37.15pm ..wessex water.
• 5 people...bill anually Ј460 per year...yorkshire water
• £29 per month family of 4 with YW. We are careful how we use water, only real waste is washing car once a week, and occasionally garden in Summer
• South East Water have just sent us a bill for Ј456.07!!!
  Turns out they 'forgot' to generate a bill for last year, so even though we were paying by Direct Debit, it wasn't enough & they've slapped it ALL onto this years bill, quadrupling our monthly payment.
  That CAN'T be right, surely????
  Why should I now have to suffer financially because of their incompetance??? She even said I should have phoned up if I wasn't paying the bill - I told her I was paying DD every month so as far as I was concerned I was. She then said 'fair enough, but . . .' - NO!!! It's NOT fair enough - it's bloody outrageous!
  There surely has to be something I can do - they can't bill me, realise they've cocked up & slap it all on a year later, can they?
  Rab