26 Feb 2015

A question about : WaterSure scheme

I applied to United Utilities for the WaterSure scheme in October and was informed that I was eligible. (And I was also told that my eligibility would be back-dated to June 2014).

Naturally I was rather pleased as I assumed that I could look forward to lower water service charges. However, my most recent bill (5 June - 3 December 2014) is Ј206.93 - and this is considerably higher than I was expecting. It's higher than my previous bill (23 November 2013 - 4 June 2014) which was Ј176.79.

One of my concerns with WaterSure is that there is no mention of my water meter reading on the bill (the reading was taken by a United Utilities appointed chappie) - hence I haven't been able to make any comparative calculations myself.
Another concern is that there is no indication of how much (if any!) discount I've been granted as a result of being eligible for the WaterSure scheme.
When I 'phoned U.U last year to ask for more information about WaterSure I was led to believe that the savings would be quite significant - but judging by my current bill I'd say that there are no savings to be made at all!

I've re-read the letter sent by UU regarding the scheme and it seems very ambiguous. This is a quote from it:
We will continue to read your meter during the time that you qualify for help. However, the charges you have to pay will not be based on your water consumption. They will be based on the assisted charge, which is Ј415.00 for the current financial year.
Does anyone know what an assisted charge is?

The letter goes on to say:
After 12 months on the scheme, we will compare the amount you would have been charged if you had not received help. If the water used would have resulted in a smaller bill, we will credit your account with the difference.
So presumably help from U.U is not necessarily a helpful thing in terms of money-saving?

Please can anyone explain the actual benefits of the WaterSure scheme?

Best answers:

  • Explained in detail here
    https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumeriss...nce/watersure/
    WaterSure (vulnerable groups scheme)
    You are here: Ofwat > Household consumers > Extra care services > WaterSure (vulnerable groups scheme)
    The WaterSure scheme is available for certain customers with a water meter. It allows them to have their bills capped. This is to make sure that these customers don't cut back on how much water they use because they are worried about how they will pay their bill.
    To qualify for help under the WaterSure scheme, you or someone living with you, needs be entitled to receive one of the following:
  • Universal Credit
  • housing benefit
  • Income Support
  • income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  • Working Tax Credit
  • Child Tax Credit (except families in receipt of the family element only)
  • Pension Credit
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • In addition, you need to either:

  • be responsible for three or more children under the age of 19 and in full-time education living in the property, or
  • have (or someone living in the property must have) a medical condition which requires significant additional use of water. Examples of medical conditions include weeping skin diseases (such as psoriasis), Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.
  • 'Assisted' means you will pay no more than Ј415pa. If according to the metered consumption you used, say, Ј500pa you will get an Ј85 reduction.
  • It appears that you actually didn't read the small print.
    It doesn't say that you'll get a discount just that it will be capped at Ј415 so it does benefit those who have to use a lot of water.
    However looking the rules, if you use less than Ј415 they'll credit you with the difference at the end of the year so you aren't any worse off. In fact you could be better off as you now have an incentive to use less water.
  • this is what it says in the application pack documents
    Once you're on the WaterSure scheme, we'll keep reading your meter.
    Each year we will look at what you would have paid if your water bill had been calculated on the amount of water actually used. If this shows that your WaterSure charges are higher than you would have paid based on your meter readings, then we will credit your account once a year with the difference
    So it's not actually totally clear that they'll be taking the whole Ј415 and then giving you the balance back but it does suggest it.
  • The following is from the Ofwat website:
    To qualify for help under the WaterSure scheme, you or someone living with you, needs be entitled to receive one of the following:
    Universal Credit
    housing benefit
    Income Support
    income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
    Working Tax Credit
    Child Tax Credit (except families in receipt of the family element only)
    Pension Credit
    Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
    In addition, you need to either:
    be responsible for three or more children under the age of 19 and in full-time education living in the property, or
    have (or someone living in the property must have) a medical condition which requires significant additional use of water. Examples of medical conditions include weeping skin diseases (such as psoriasis), Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
    .
    So you must have four or more people living in the house, or be using extra water for medical purposes, so you must be using a large amount of water, for which the scheme will compensate you.
  • The company I worked for do water sure on set dates. It was possible this higher bill was actually for a longer period of time than normal bill still sent at same time but charges dates differ
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