WATER MANAGEMENT
COMPANIES THAT SWITCH WATER SUPPLIER CAN EXPECT SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS ON COSTS GOING FORWARD AND REBATES DUE TO HISTORICAL BILLING ERRORS
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t is absolutely true companies that switch water supplier can expect to reduce their on going water and waste water bills and claim money back due to historical overcharges as £millions remains unclaimed and businesses continue to unknowingly pay their bills when in fact the charges may be incorrect. Whether your business has or hasn’t switched water supplier it makes no difference at the end of the day. If you did decide to switch water supplier and you are now supplied by a different water retail company there is no guarantee that your water bills are correct, far from it! The appointed water retail company who ever that may be, charges customers in accordance with the wholesale market data, it is not the fault of the water retailer, which from a customers perspective is difficult to understand but true. Says Graham Mann a water consultant who heads up H2O Building Services, one of the UK’s longest established water consultancies. “This is one particular area that does breed mistrust amongst many customers. “I hear this time and time again, and now since the water industry has deregulated allowing companies to switch water supplier the incorrect charging has become even more widespread. “In many cases the customer market data the water retailers are billing against is not accurate and therefore customers are not receiving the correct charges. “Customers are unknowingly accumulating substantial debts as they are also under billed and so if the customer is unaware of the under billing they will not be making any provision for a back charge. “Our water audit department is now dealing with increased cases of water retailers back charging customers as water wholesalers impose back charges on them to pass onto customers.
“Again customers should be aware, even some back charge bills are not correct as a customer back charge bill was reduced by 45 percent saving the client £22,000 on their bill and £19,000 on future bills going forwards. “This is just one of many, we are now seeing quite a trend in this activity but be warned not all back charged bills are correct!!” So what can customers do right now during these challenging economic times?” Here is some sound expert advice from Graham Mann. “Dealing firstly with a back charge bill, if a customer receives a bill for services that has been billed before, the customer has been charged for water and waste water services but has been undercharged in some areas, my advice in the first instance is commission a water industry expert and request a waste water audit and evaluation report. “I say this in all instances of historical back charging bills, a desktop water and waste water audit and evaluation report should be conducted and this will not cost the customer a fee, they are mostly simple and straight forward, however an expert option is always a wise move. “If the charges are correct, rarely do water retail companies discount back charges as by this time they have received and probably paid the wholesale charges.
“Prior to deregulation we were able to negotiate discounts of up to 50 percent on back charges as the water company was both the wholesaler and the retailer, one company, now if a retailer were to discount the amount would be a straight forward loss but always take expert advise as there are stringent regulated rules on back charging customers. “Our water bill validation team recently rejected 2 back charge claims due to the incorrect start dates and they are significant numbers.” If your business is seeking to reduce water and waste water bills through switching water supplier, historical water audits or experience historical water bill back charges, then contact the experts H2O Building Services: info@h2obuildingservices.co.uk you will be glad you did!
ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • MAY 2020
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