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Rise in water bills to hit Britons next month
Monday 8th March 2010As many of us have feared, April is the financial spring cleaning month, with tax payments and now a substantial increase in water bills to contend with.
It is estimated that the average household will have to pay around £170 in April, half of their water bill. The current economic situation has brought about high unemployment levels so “consumer debt is a problem in the water and sewerage sector”, according to OFWAT, the regulator of water and sewage providers in England and Wales.
OFWAT has stated: “More than 5 million households currently owe money on their water bills and over last 5 years the amount owed has increased by more than 50%.”
Unlike energy bills, disconnection of services is not an option for companies, but alternative preventions are using debt collectors and summoning people to court. It seems that the £12 debt subsidy is not fixing the leaky tap as the latest figures from OFWAT show that households owe £1.4 billion to the companies.
Fortunately, not all consumers fail to fund their water supply, as statistics show that 85% did not find it a difficulty to pay on time. The concern is with lower income households that have difficulty managing their bills; this is why companies offer a range of measures to help vulnerable customers to budget.
OFWAT have said that they are helping companies to manage debt by ensuring affordability and efficiency in price, good practice from stakeholders and fair treatment for customers.
Whether this will be enough to manage water debt remains to be seen, but as this debt report from OFWAT suggests a positive impact on levels of debt can incur if companies separate the “won’t-pay’s” from the “can’t-pay’s” and are able to pursue the former more vigorously.
For those who are worried that they will be overwhelmed by bills in April, debt experts have advised them to switch energy suppliers at www.energyswitching.co.uk, with debt solutions provider, EuroDebt, stating that switching gas and electricity suppliers “could save up to as much as £1,941 per year.”
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