News

Thames Water charges to rise 40% by 2020.

 Author: Graham Mann, Water Audit Expert.

Thames Water company has plans to increase water charges / bills by some 40% by 2020 even though the regulator OFWAT said the industry should be cutting prices, MP’s said the regulator must “get a grip”.

Thames Water Tidal Tunnel and London’s Super Sewer could add as much as £ 100 to bills by the early 2020’s including inflation.

Earlier the regulator had already challenged Thames Water over it’s request to increase bills by as much as £ 29 in 2014 – 2015. OFWAT will know doubt examine in detail all proposals to increase water bills between 2015 – 2020.

All Water Companies will be submitting proposals for increasing charges in December, some Water Companies such as South West Water, Southern Water and Anglian Water say they wish to keep increases at or below inflation, interestingly enough South West Water and Southern Water are the highest charging Water Companies in England.

A spokesman for the leading Water Consultancy H²O Building Services said “We would like to see a complete overhaul of the Water Industry starting with the creation of a “Water Ombudsman” with powers of enforcement as Water Companies continue to charge for services they do not provide and refuse to refund the charges in full with full support it seems from the existing regulator OFWAT. The service levels are deteriorating on a monthly bases with simple refund cases taking an average of 3 months to resolve. It is about time Government woke up to the fact a huge number of businesses and residential customers continue to be overcharged yet nothing is done to resolve the situation. The Water Companies attitude is “it is up to the customer to ensure the charges are correct” The Water Companies is seems do not have a duty to ensure the charges are correctly levied and when they are caught out and requests for refunds are sent the Water Companies do not refund all of the overcharges sighting the regulator OFWAT agrees with our policy on refunds.

The Water Industry is a law unto it’s own and will continue down this path unless the Government of the day “gets a grip”.