How much do you pay for your local water rates? Up until recently mine was £443.34 a year. But then I discovered a little known rate - something called the Assessed Household Charge.
First I asked for a free water meter from Thames Water. They came round, did a quick survey and said that it couldn't be fitted as I have a flat and there was no space for it under the sink. They then moved me onto the much cheaper Assessed Household Charge. So I how pay just £228.76 a year. Result!
Find out more about the Assessed Household Charge on these rather well hidden pages here and and FAQ here. What have you got to lose (but a fat bill)?
It sure is a "little known" way of charging. Why? Because Thames Water don't want you to know. It will save many of their victims money--which means less for them.
ReplyDeleteIf you know you CANNOT have a meter--say, you live in a flat with shared hot-water supply--would you ever think of asking for one? Would you even read a page in Thames's propaganda pamphlet of "information" headed "Thinking of having a meter?" Unless you enjoy wasting time, probably not. Not many of us would. So guess where the ONLY mention of this Assessed Household Charge used to appear in that leaflet? On that very page!
And now Thames has gone one worse: the 2011 version of the leaflet doesn't mention the AHC at all!! You have to search their website--for a charge that you've very probably never heard of!
But maybe Thames Water rushes to tell unmeterable households about AHC? No way. They only tell you individually AFTER you have asked for a meter! Which is just what you pretty certainly won't do. Talk of Catch-22.
Why does this huge foreign-owned monopoly get away with not giving its tied customers vital information? Shouldn't at least the so-called regulator of the water industry, Ofwat, make it do so? Very true. But in fact Ofwat knows it doesn't--and is perfectly happy for it not to!!! So much for "consumer protection"
Why does this fat monopoly get away with its behaviour? Because its victims, even when they learn of the far-cheaper AHC charging system, do not kick up a fuss about its deliberate lack of information. They should challenge Thames Water both privately and in public.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, they should tell any "unmeterable" householders that they know--eg in any block of flats with a commmunal hot water boiler--about the AHC, and how they can get transferred to it. In London alone, there must be a huge number of such households who still know nothing about the AHC.
Hit Thames with publicity, hit it in the pocket. As it more than fully deserves.