Charges
Our regulator OFWAT has once again rated us as one of the highest performing water companies in its annual overall performance assessment. This rating is based upon levels of service that we achieve, this includes how many interruptions there are to our customers’ supplies, how we deal with our customer contact and our water quality compliance.
Water and used water services are billed based on either metered or unmetered charges. South Staffs Water plc is a water provider only company. The sewerage and drainage services within our supply area are the responsibility of Severn Trent Water Ltd. As such, we act as their agents in the billing and collection of their used water and surface water drainage charges.
Metered Properties
If you have a water meter fitted at your property this will tell us the amount of water that you have used and you will be charged for the amount of water you use. We will send you 4 bills per year and at least 1 of these will be based on an actual company reading, the others will estimate how much water you use on a daily basis. When you receive an estimated bill and would prefer to be billed on actual usage and you are able to provide a meter reading you can do this using our Meter Reading form or by calling 0800 62 60 60.
Unmetered Properties
Your charges are based on the rateable value (RV) that was set before 1989 by the valuation office of your local council who set a separate RV for each property based on how much rent might be charged. The valuation office will no longer handle appeals about RV. We do not use council tax bands or business rates. You do have the option to apply for a free meter.
Claiming Lower Sewerage Charges.
For most customers, the rain that falls onto the roofs, yards and other parts of their property drains as surface water to the public sewers. The cost of removing rainwater in this way is included in the sewerage charges on your bill. But there are some properties where surface water or groundwater does not drain to the public sewer and so a reduction in your bill may be applicable.
If you are able to demonstrate that no surface water or groundwater from your property drains to the public sewer (directly or indirectly) you can pay a lower sewerage charge. If surface water (such as rainwater) from any part of your property drains to the public sewer you must pay full charges.
If you believe that you are due a reduction in your charges and would like to make a claim for a reduction please view the Surface Water Drainage booklet/application form.
Domestic Customers – Price Changes from 1st April 2008
From 1st April 2008 water charges will be rising for our domestic customers. Your bill for your water charges may be higher than last year. There are a number of reasons why they are increasing, this includes the level of inflation announced in mid December (4.3%), maintaining existing assets, investing nearly £30 million in new assets as well as investing in our customer services. These charges have been approved by our regulator OFWAT, and our customers will benefit from bills that are 25% lower than the national average.
If you're charged on an unmetered basis you will receive your bill for these charges in the next few weeks. For our metered customers, these new charges will also come into effect from April 1st 2008. If you have any questions regarding these charges please call the customer services team on: 0845 60 70 456
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