Your water company can refuse to install a water meter at your property if it is not practical or is too expensive for it to fit one.
If you cannot have a water meter installed, your water company must offer you an assessed charge. This is an alternative to your standard unmetered (usually rateable value) charge.
You will not be offered an assessed charge unless you apply for a meter.
Setting assessed charges
Assessed charges are generally based on one of the following:
- the number of bedrooms in your property
- the type of property you live in
- the number of people who live in your property
- the average metered bill in the water company’s area
The level of the charge, or the basis for fixing the charge, can be found in your company’s charges scheme.
The way that assessed charges are set varies from company to company. However, each company comply with our charging rules in setting these charges.