Any water company can install a meter when a property is sold or a tenant moves out. Several companies operate these “change of occupier” schemes. Water companies in areas of serious water stress are able to propose a more widespread/universal installation of water meters as a way to manage the demand for water. If agreed by the Environment Agency and Ofwat unmeasured customers are legally required to have a meter. At present only Southern Water and Veolia South East have universal metering programmes in place.

Some customers could pay more if they switch to metered charges, others could pay less. It depends on how much water you use. You can find out how much you’d likely pay on metered charges by using our water meter calculator.

If you have a water bill that you think you may struggle to pay, contact your company. Most can offer more flexible payment plans, and many have set up trusts or other schemes to help eligible customers clear some outstanding debt. If you are on income related benefits you may also be eligible for WaterSure, which limits how much a customer can be charged if they have a meter. Click here to find out more.

Once a meter is installed at a property, the water company will not remove it. If you asked to have the meter installed under the meter option scheme you can switch back to rateable value based charges within the first 12 months of having the meter if you’re unhappy with the change, as long as your water company is not one of the two in a process of systematically installing water meters (Veolia Water Southeast and Southern Water).

If you think that there might be something wrong with the water meter at your property you can ask the company to arrange for the meter to be tested, however if the results show the meter to be working within prescribed limits you will be liable for the cost of the testing. It is the water company’s responsibility to fix or replace the meter if something goes wrong.

Customers are responsible for any necessary repairs to the water supply pipes in their gardens and homes, whether or not they have a water meter. If a leak is found on the property which causes a higher bill than normal, customers with a water meter have the right to a leakage allowance, meaning that the water company will not charge for the water lost through the leak. Many water companies have programmes to help detect and fix leaks on private supply pipes, so any customer who suspects a leak on their property should contact their water company as soon as possible.

Our experience to date has been that when people think about moving house their focus is more on finding a property that fits their desired location and price. While other factors, such as schools, council tax bands, local amenities, etc, factor into their decision to buy a property, we have not had customers call us to complain that they could not sell their home because it had a water meter installed.

The water company technically own the water meter and will normally choose which type of meter you receive. They will also suggest the best location for the meter. It must be fitted at a point where it will register all the water used at your property and this is usually outside your property in the footpath or inside your property under the kitchen sink. If you would like the meter to be fitted elsewhere some companies may agree on the basis that you pay the associated costs.

Ofwat, the industry regulator, expects companies to provide a bill based on an actual meter reading once in every financial year. Some companies exceed this by reading meters more frequently (like every six months). Your water company can tell you how often they aim to read your meter. You can submit your own meter reading to your company if you are unhappy with an estimated bill. If you would like to pay your water bills in smaller, more frequent payments, contact your water company.

If your water company says that it can not fit a meter to your property, it should explain why it is impractical or too expensive to do so. It should offer you the option to switch to what is called an assessed charge, which more closely reflects likely water use. Some companies base it on number of bedrooms in the properties and others on the number of people living at the property. It may, in some circumstances, be cheaper to remain on rateable value-based charging rather than switch to an assessed charge. Find out more by contacting your water company.

Water prices are decided by the industry regulator, Ofwat, every five years based on the likely cost of the work each water company will need to carry out over that period. Water companies can not charge customers more than the cap Ofwat places on prices. While some customers would be likely to see their bills rise as a result of switching to a metered charges, others water bills would likely reduce. Costs would be distributed differently among customers, but there would not be an affect on the water company’s overall income.

As water resources in the UK are becoming more and more stretched, especially in the South East of England, a number of government bodies have called for more household customers to have water meters installed to both help control the demand for water, and to help water companies more easily spot leaks.

Defra’s water strategy calls for near universal metering by 2030.
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The Environment Agency has called for - Metering to be accelerated where it is most needed. In areas that are seriously water-stressed, companies should use their ability to meter on compulsory basis so that the majority of homes in seriously water-stressed areas are metered by 2015. They also recognise that some companies may not be able to achieve full metering until 2020.
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