Households have no choice over who they get their water services from but that doesn’t mean you’re out of options when it comes to saving money
Major water bill price hikes will hit UK households in April with inflation-shattering increases to be the highest since privatisation 36 years ago.
Bills will leap by up to 47%, leading to calls from Watchdogs to get urgent help if they are already struggling.
Some suppliers will hike prices by as much as £224 a year and the average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales will jump by 26%, or £123 a year, to £603. Suppliers argue the big increases are needed to carry out long overdue investment work to fix leaks and sewage discharges.
United Utilities, which covers north west England, will hike its average bills by a whopping 23%, or £112, to £598 a year from April. South West’s average bill will jump even more, by 32% – or £166 – to £686 a year. Crisis hit Thames Water will up its average bill by nearly a third – or £151 – to £639 in April.
Unlike energy, households have no choice over who they get their water services from, which is why many will find a surge in bills next month so galling.
But a scheme called WaterSure is designed to help certain people with their bills. People who apply must be on benefits and need to use a lot of water, either for medical reasons or because their household has a certain number of school-age children. They also need to be on a water meter or waiting to have one installed.
If applicants get help through the WaterSure scheme, their water bill will be capped. This means they will not pay any more than the average metered bill for the area your water company deals with.
If they get your water from Welsh Water they will be covered by WaterSure Wales, which works in a similar way to the English scheme.
David Black, Ofwat chief executive, said: “We recognise the challenge that some customers are facing with increasing financial pressures and understand that the water sector is not the only area where customers are faced with rising costs.
“We have pushed companies to double the amount of support over the next five-year period and strongly encourage customers who are struggling to pay their water bills to contact their water company to access this.”
Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “These rises are the largest we’ve seen since privatisation and will heap considerable pressure on millions of customers who are already having to make difficult choices.
“Around 2.5 million households are already in debt to their water company and there is a danger that number will grow unless some companies show more ambition around financial support. The existing safety net for customers who cannot afford their water bill is not strong enough. That’s why we urgently need a single social tariff scheme to provide fair and consistent support across England and Wales.”
The Consumer Council for Water says it is concerned about the impact the increases will have on millions of struggling households.
It has published research revealing more than two in five (44%) customers say they have already reduced spending on essentials like food and heating to ensure they can afford household bills, including water. One in four with a water meter said they had reduced what they considered to be essential water use to keep bills affordable.
