Water Bills
 

Most of you may have now received your bill of charges for this year, usually bills are worked out on the council tax band of your area, i've discovered im paying triple than a band A, surely being in a council property i cant be band C & cant find an old CT bill to find out my band either:(

My bill is £323.49 for this soley this year with no arears:confused: my bill has been remarkably high since i moved here - even cheaper than water meter charges!!!

What is yours for this year even an approximation & what band u are in so i can compare please, so i can ring the water board up tommoz [only just remembered seeing bill so too late to call now] i really think im paying far too much or they have got the wrong band for the area or i could be wrong hence asking the question:(

Band A - ?
Band B - ?
Band C - ?

TIA:D

Re: Water Bills
 

Check out this Government website and see what band you and your neighbours are in. When it asks just put in postcode with no house number and it will show you all houses with that postcode :D

What is your postcode - don't give house number as well :D

Re: Water Bills
 

Cheers Neil :D Im apparently Band B, i thought council housed areas was band A:confused:

Re: Water Bills
 

It all depends on the value put on the house in 1993 I think it was. A stupid idea but from what I read the Government dare not reassess because of the backlash it would cause. They did it in Wales a few years ago.

Re: Water Bills
 

teh value of a house shoudlnt effect the poor sod renting it , if they want to go off the value of a house the landlord shoudl be resposible for the bill

Re: Water Bills
 

Rent a cheaper value house then.

Rent is usually based on property value. If you owned a £50k house and a £100k house you would want more rent from the £100k one.

Re: Water Bills
 

most peopel who rent cant afford to be choosey where they rent because the councils have sold off all their properties and whats left with cheap rents are owned by housing associations but there are that few left you either rent private or be homeless

why should the value of a house effect the water rates anyway theres only so much water a person can use regardless of how big their house is

everyone should pay the same and it should be a lot less than what it is now , the water companies should be forced to maintain their pipes to reduce losses not just bump up bills

Re: Water Bills
 

they are looking to revalue all houses. don't you read teh Daily Mail mate?

If you have added rooms/extentions/conservatories/landscaped gardens, in fact anything that has actually made your house a bit nicer then expect your banding to be changed.

<fx: Ian and Julie look at the extention/conservatory/landscaped gardens that they have saved hard to do and realise they are right royally stuffed>

So much for investing in your house

Re: Water Bills
 

thats not true entwisi, my mate em lives on the same street as me, she had the exact same 3 up 2 down that i have, she bought hers, added 3 bedrooms on it, extended the back of the house and the kitchen, even built a swimming pool in her garden and she is still in a band A, pays the same ct that i do, and the same water rates...go figure

Re: Water Bills
 

did you miss the bit where I said they are LOOKING to revalue. as in its about to start happening.

Re: Water Bills
 

That is because she has not been rebanded. Wait till she is, she will et a surprise :D

Go to the site I said and put in my postcode BB5 3EY and see the difference in bands. Most of the houses on my street are very similar.

Re: Water Bills
 

she did it 3 years ago

Re: Water Bills
 

Wait till they do the re-value, it'll change then for sure

Re: Water Bills
 

Get in touch with the valuation office at Preston and ask them to confirm what the rateable value is of your house. From that we can then work out what UU will charge. It's hard to beleive that a band b property for council tax is twice the water bill of a band a property !!

Re: Water Bills
 

Flashy, it doesn't matter when it was done, 1994, 2004 or feb 04th, rebranding will take these differences into account. They are even looking to give the inspectors god given right of entry(at the moment IIRC only Gas board have that right) to take pictures of anything they like (hide that kinky underwear!!!!)

Re: Water Bills
 

lol she had it re-valued when she finished the work, she bought it for £16,000 its now worth £130,000,still no change

Re: Water Bills
 

But it wasn't re-valued for council tax purposes, probably only for re-sale, they haven't started re-valuing yet I don't think, think they start it this year sometime


Edit - Maybe I should have used rebranding/rebanding rather than re-value

Re: Water Bills
 

teh 'revalue' she had was from a sales perspective, Nowt to do with council tax banding . that is something the council will do and will have sod all to do with what an estate agent says its worth

Re: Water Bills
 

ooops missed the link off


http://www.voa.gov.uk/where/north_we...ton_office.htm

Re: Water Bills
 

Whats that for? water or CT?? I doubt very much they will change my banding:(

Typical sting the poorer element of society:(

Re: Water Bills
 

Tho thanks for thought altho nobody has put about their water prices or said whether theres is same as mine or cheaper or what to give some sort of comparrision for complaint:confused:

Re: Water Bills
 

It's nothing to do with council tax banding. As Neil said earlier it's about rateable values years ago. The Valuation office will hold the ratebale value for the house that UU are supposed to work off. It's possible that they have the wrong RV

Re: Water Bills
 

I would if I could find it - looks like its gone in the bin :(

Re: Water Bills
 

I suppose i need to contact UU 1st & find out what the hell they are charging me for - no doubt speak to india & they wont have a clue like last year & previous years of arguing this case!

Re: Water Bills
 

:rofl38: have u put your new one under file bin already...?? pmsl so tempted with mine lol if u havent got your new one yet - then dread it! its gone up!:D

Re: Water Bills
 

It was the new one, only got it a few days ago, paid by direct debit anyhow so once i've seen how much it is the letters no good is it :D


Edit - If I remember correctly you get £5 discount for paying by DD

Re: Water Bills
 

well this is how i see it, i get my council tax and housing benefit paid (thankfully) so i never ever moan about paying my other bills, they always get paid on time, i dont see the point in moaning about it

Re: Water Bills
 

LOL yours must of been cheap or not bad to notice hehehehe I dont beleive in the con job for DD i pay when its convienient to me not when banks say so hehehehehe:D

Re: Water Bills
 

Mel, you briefly mentioned a meter. Have you had one? It may be worth you trying one( you get a 6 month option to have it removed if you aren't saving anything.)

You can also try a few tricks. someone I used to work with complained that he didn't use teh waste water limit as he spread his bath water over his lawn, pee'd on teh compost heap and nmerous other 'methods'. Needless to say he did get a refund

Re: Water Bills
 

Yeh i had a newer rented house before this one & any house built on or after 1997 had compulsory meters put in, but yet i had fully economic fitting in & a shower which doesn't half cut your water meter bills, in fact less than half im on now, but as my house isnt that economic atm in fact waiting for the council to do their required refit of bathroom, crossing fingers for a shower but if not a point will be put in to sort my own out - then i would reconsider a meter to be fitted:D But reading on UU website some properties may not be able to handle or support having a water meter fitted.

Tho they did say to me that in 10years or so that most people to nearly all 10yrs + time will have water meters & be the way to go for billing.

Re: Water Bills
 

If you add up all the 'extra' charges for paying all your utilities bills by not using DD then you are probably well over 100 quid /year[1]. If you can afford to throw that amount of cash away for no benefit then you must have more money than you think. Direct debit isn't inconvienient. you know what day its going out so you can budget for it to be in there waiting. Bills themselves have drop dead dates that they have to be paid, consider your DD date in teh same manner and its no difference at all


[1] Gas/eleclly offer ~10% discount, BT are afetr 15 quid a quarter, water 5 pound, etc. It soon adds up.

Re: Water Bills
 

its called life n living, get over it

Re: Water Bills
 

What u save in one hand u can lose in the other like money not being paid in on time & direct debit fluffs up - been there & had the lovely £30 bank charges a time at the worst time u need them, trouble is how can anyone guarentee an income better still same or regular income these days??? job market isnt that secure!! So im afraid its only to convienience of companies because it saves on their effort & ensures u pay your bill when that date comes without flexibility, as which i manage to pay all my bills at time that suits my finances within a reasonable time limit - ok it costs but my control:D

Re: Water Bills
 

expensive control if you ask me.

as fo employment market, lets be onest, jobs rarely disappear overnight. there is usually a couple of weeks notice

I've never been out of work for more than a couple of days. just depends on what you are prepared to accept, something of teh standards you are accustomed to or a job to keep a roof over your head. big difference in how easy it is to get work

Re: Water Bills
 

Can u get an overdraft??

If u can i cant sorry entwisi people on lower rung get ripped off, if i had all my bills by DD on weekly basis i would never know whats in or whats out - plus i know whats paid & what isnt, banks do fluff & who pays then! Atm i have a few small DD because i know i could cover them regardless, but having a few hundred on DD will cause me more debt than not in order to benefit the years reduction - sounds daft to you but safer for me because if i have no money i cant pay it another arrangement will be made but a DD will need a few days notice to cancel or re-arrange if worst came to worst to avoid bank charges & its those bank charges that puts me well off DD or even trust them for all my bills - last time it caused me years of un neccessary debt because a huge chunk of income was lost especially if circumstances change or company goes under not always will u get sufficient notice!! Now i have no debt because i can mange my finances easier than the banks do!!

Re: Water Bills
 

The other way is to have an account that is just for paying bills by DD. Each week put the right amount of money into the account so the monthly DD's are covered.
Or like Ian says you know when the DD will be taken so you could just pay that amount into the bill paying account like you are paying the bill. You will then get DD prices but you can pay like its a regular bill. The only difference is you pay the money into your other account and the leccy company or whoever take it from their.

Years ago when I was weekly paid, I was worried about the monthly bills hitting me all at once and not having enough money to cover them. I opened another account and set up a weekly transfer for the day after pay for a quarter of my monthly bills. That meant that I could empty my main account on beer and the bills still got paid.

Re: Water Bills
 

my understanding and experience of DD is that companies can also take more than the stated amount if they wished , whereas with a standing order they can only take the amount agreed...

Re: Water Bills
 

They can only change the amount if they provide advanced notice of a change. This must be > 1 week IIRC You can challange any changes and they are then not allowed to make the change. If a company takes anything other than a previous agreed amount the Bank must immediately credit your account and cannot make any charges against you on the basis of that transaction. e.g. if you go overdrawn because of that one transaction then no charges, if you had three other payments go out that would have made you overdrawn regardless then they can.

All this is covered by teh Direct Debit guarantee which all banks signed up with.

Cherokee, a standing order is not them taking money, its you paying them. they have no say in the transaction whatsoever.

I'd also agree with Neil on the idea of a bills account. you know what bills you have to pay, paying teh cash in a day before a direct debit is due is no different than walking to teh post office etc with your bill in your hand and paying it. Having a household budget is probabaly one of teh biggest tips anyone could take. know exactly what it costs to live gives you control of your life. I regularly sit down and go through our budget so we know what we can afford to spend each month/plan for hols/ save up for new cars. etc

Re: Water Bills
 

Back to thread ........ rang UU about my bill least this time English call person, unfortunately as they say all bills have risen by 8 & 1/2 % & had floods of calls cos people like me have noticed a significant rise. My rateable value is set at 151 by the gov & said that there will be no chance of changing it, so im stuck with a high rate bill or go water meter:(

Re: Water Bills
 

Being a bit green, politically I mean and not green scum that needs washing off, I enquired if I could have a water meter. Living alone, and mainly having showers, I thought it would be cheaper.

They did an estimate for me, and told me to stick to paying a standard charge.

Bit daft if you ask me.

Re: Water Bills
 

I hate paying water bill, But have also heard that a Meter would be a lot more costly so best to stick to Annual rate.

D/D I think is a good idea to pay bills and a seperate account is the way to go, Internet banking allows you to cancel a D/D immediatly so If you aint got it you just stop the D/D wait for the nasty letter, advise its a mistake and re set it up.:D

Re: Water Bills
 

You’re forgetting the shareholders chav1. They want their pound of flesh.

My water bill went up 10.02% for this fiscal year to just over £183. But I do live in a one bedroom flat and no bath, just a shower, toilet, washbasin and kitchen sink. OK! A washing machine as well.

Er! entwisi! I think that you will find that there are more than IIRC and Gas that have right of entry to your property without your permission. Police, Fire, Bailiff, Social Services, the landlord if it is rented property, health a safety, environmental health plus others that I cannot remember. This very point was discussed on the Jeremy Vine lunchtime programme one day last week and he read out quite a long list.

Re: Water Bills
 

IIRC?

The above cant just enter your property they have to have reasonable cause, and a lot would have to give written 24hrs notice.

Re: Water Bills
 

I was only quoting what was discussed on the programme. As for reasonable cause – that wouldn’t be too difficult to find. I’ll grant you that most are required to give 24 hours notice but after that they can walk in without so much as a by your leave and you can do nothing about it.

You will find a list here http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-rights/chapters/the-right-to-privacy/power-of-officials-to-enter-your-home/index.shtml

Re: Water Bills
 

I dont doubt what the program discussed, but in the real world someone who knows there stuff would be able to Revoke anyone attempting to enter your property.

Is it not after 24 hours they can enter, but again if you refuse entry they have to get a court order.

It is something I persoanally will have none of If I dont want somebody in my house then they arnt getting in unless they have a person of Authority there (Police ect) and Im happy with the ID provided.

Re: Water Bills
 

Gosh, stories like this make me glad I've got a well and septic system (no, not one and the same:cool:). My only water/septic costs is for the well pupm electricity!

Chin up mates!

Brian

Re: Water Bills
 

Ah! Yes! But how many people in the real world know their rights? Until that programme I thought that I knew that the only people who could enter my flat without my permission were the utility companies and in my case the landlord. Anyone else would need a piece of paper giving them the authority.

The question is, is the piece of paper genuine? I’ve never seen one so how would I know? I mean if notes of the realm can be forged to a degree where most people wouldn’t detect them, a simple court order would be child’s play especially in the current computer age. The same would go for a police warrant card. I’ve never seen one so how would I know if some alleged plain clothes cop showed one to me? You even get fake cops in uniform.

So like you ***Mr D*** no one gets inside my flat unless I personally know them or I might be expecting them or they have photo ID.

Re: Water Bills
 

I hope your well and septic tank are not too close together :eek: :D

Re: Water Bills
 

My mate is a Custom's Officer. They have more rights to enter than the Police do.

Re: Water Bills
 

as I said, the only people who can force immediate entry are GAS and they have to have reason to believe there is a leak. The rest can ASK or get a warrant to enter at some point in the future(even if thats unbeknown to you)

Re: Water Bills
 

burgulars can enter any house they want and have more rights than anyone

ask anyone whos suffered from a burgular :(