What if I move to a property with a meter?

If you move to a property with a meter you will have to pay measured water and sewerage charges. Take a meter reading as soon as you take responsibility for the property. You can’t have the meter removed.

Here’s what you need to know if you haven’t had a metered water supply before:

• your water and sewerage bills will now be linked to how much water you use. The meter measures the incoming water, and the outgoing waste water is normally worked out as a percentage of what was supplied (92.5%), or is charged at a lower rate on the full amount supplied
• you can control the size of your bill by being careful how much water you use
• the water supply company will read the meter at least once but up to four times a year, and send you a bill
• they are allowed to estimate usage if they can’t or don’t read your meter
• this will be based on what you have used before, but you can contact them with your own actual reading if you think the estimate is too high
• the water meter belongs to the company, but you can read it to check how much you’re using
• it may be underground in a small chamber on the footpath outside your house, in your garden or inside your home (eg under the kitchen sink)
• If you’re able to, it’s good to read it regularly because this will help you spot any unexpected increase that could be due to a leak

Your metered water bill will show the charges under four headings:

• the standing (or fixed) charge for your water supply service
• the volume charge for water supplied (the number of complete cubic metres used multiplied by the rate per cubic metre)
• the standing (or fixed) charge for your sewerage service
• the volume charge for used water returned to the sewer (the number of complete cubic metres returned multiplied by the rate per cubic metre)

If you get a higher than expected bill, it could mean there is a leak on the supply, or that the meter was misread, or you might have used more water because of things such as garden watering, laying turf or extra people in your home.

Water meters are normally very accurate until they get older, when they can sometimes record less than you’re actually using. Most water companies have a meter replacement programme to make sure their meters record accurately.

If the sewerage service is provided by a different company, you may receive a separate bill, or your water company may include the sewerage charges on its bill.

When you move out, tell your water company at least five working days before you leave so that it can arrange a closing read. If you don’t, it may charge you beyond the date you left.

If you were not aware that the property had a meter before you bought it, you may wish to contact the conveyancer to find out why this information was not in the searches made before you bought it. The water company is not expected to inform you that there is a meter, unless you contacted it to ask specifically.