Defra launches consultation to tackle unpaid water bills
皇冠体育app industry had to write off approximately 拢328 million of household debt in 2010-11 which leads to higher bills for those that do pay.
皇冠体育app burden of bad debt in the water industry, and its impact on everyone鈥檚 water bills, is to be tackled through a new consultation launched by Environment Minister, Richard Benyon.
Every year the failure of some customers to pay their water bills adds an average of 拢15 to every other customer鈥檚 bill, which the Government is determined to see reduced.
Water Minister Richard Benyon said:
鈥淚 want to tackle the problem of bad debt in the water industry as people not paying their bills cost those that do 拢15 a year. It is just not right that responsible people have to pick up the bills of those who are not paying.
鈥淗owever, mindful of the burden that regulation may impose, I want to explore whether we can take action through a voluntary approach.
鈥淲e will consider the consultation responses before making a final decision but we must find a way to fill the information gap which is at the heart of this problem.鈥澛犅犅�
皇冠体育app level of outstanding revenue from domestic water customers in the UK was over 拢1.6 billion in 2010-11. 皇冠体育app industry had to write off approximately 拢328 million of household debt in 2010-11 which leads to higher bills for those that do pay.
皇冠体育app majority of water debtors are tenants in rented properties and, unlike for electricity and gas bills, there is currently no requirement on the owners of the building to provide information on the identity of the occupier to the water company.聽聽
With the aim to lower bills, the Government is launching a consultation in England which will consider two options;
1)聽the introduction of a regulatory measure, which would make landlords liable for the water charges in their tenants鈥� properties if they fail to supply details of their tenants to the water company, or
2)聽a voluntary alternative which聽 would ask landlords and other holders of data on occupancy to share this information with the water company.聽
皇冠体育app level of bad debt in the water industry is approximately three times higher than that of the energy sector, despite water and sewerage bills being around a third of the cost of average energy bills.
皇冠体育app Government, as part of the Water White Paper, recently announced measures to enable water companies to introduce new social tariffs for people struggling to pay their bills.