19 June 2007
The water bills of nearly 35,000 customers who are not using a water meter will be reviewed over the next few months in a bid to correct any inaccurate charges in the region.
Based on the Average Household Charge (AHC), the results could mean savings for thousands of customers in the Thames Valley region.
Currently, most customers are billed according to the 'rateable value' if they are unmetered, but for customers who are unable to have a meter fitted, Thames Water will now apply the AHC rate, potentially saving large amounts of money on their annual water bill.
Thames Water will also introduce different price bands for the AHC to reflect different customers' circumstances and predicted water usage.
"This is about making our charges fairer for customers who want to pay for what they use, but can't have a meter," said Mike Tempest, Thames Water's Director of Customer Services.
"We have listened to our customers and we recognise that people want to have the opportunity to pay for what they use. The changes we are proposing will allow us to get closer to this, by splitting the charge into bands."
He continued: "We are now contacting all our customers currently charged on the AHC and inviting them to take part in a simple survey which will help us decide how to set these different bands. We want to devise the fairest possible system, in the absence of meters."