Dwr Cymru Welsh Water is urging people in low income families from the Caerphilly area to come along to its roadshow to see if they can save up to £250 on their water bills.
The company, which estimates up to 190,000 of its customers could be in line for big savings by switching to its HelpU tariff, is hosting a roadshow on Thursday 31 March at the Castle Court shopping centre in the town centre. Customers with annual household incomes of less than £15,000 are invited to come along and chat to representatives to see if they can benefit from making savings on their water bills.
Welsh Water’s Head of Affordability, Sarah Falder said, “We know that a large number of our customers in lower income households in the Caerphilly area could be benefiting from lower bills by joining our HelpU scheme. Customers who think they qualify only have to come along between 10am and 4pm and we’ll give them all the advice they need. If it’s cheaper to switch – we’ll do all the work – it’s that simple. For some it will cut water and sewerage bills by more than half.
“Average household incomes of customers across our operating area are generally lower than those of English water companies. For many in the area we serve, the water bill exceeds five per cent of household incomes – and so paying it can be a struggle.
“As a not for profit company, our profits are reinvested for the benefit of customers and we want to make sure that those customers who genuinely struggle to pay get the help that is available to them. HelpU can be a great help to many – and we’re also asking people to spread the word about the tariff. So if you have a friend or relative who you think could benefit, please make a point of mentioning it to them.
“It’s a very simple process and all customers need to do is log on to www.dwrcymru.com or call us on 0800 052 0145 and we’ll do the rest.”
Sarah added that around 60,000 customers already benefit from D?r Cymru’s assistance schemes for water and sewerage bills. HelpU is the company’s only social tariff based solely on household income and it is planned to significantly grow the number of customers it benefits during 2016.
The company also has other schemes available and urges customers to visit www.dwrcymru.com for more information.
The HelpU tariff has been devised after consultation with the Welsh Government, the Consumer Council for Water and Community Housing Cymru. Independent research shows great support for the HelpU tariff among customers.
What I would like to know is how is it that my water bill from Dwr Cymru is £140 when I only used £40 worth of water.
They charge twice Paul, once for the water and once to get rid of it in the sewerage system. On top of that they charge you a standing charge to be ready to supply you at all times.
Still, better than my bill before I went on a meter, £550 per year!
Utility companies these day charge like wounded rhinos, standing charge is the biggest rip off of them all, it’s as bad as the extortionate booking fees when buying a ticket to an event.
Correct; Average Gas Bill for my home- £800-£850 P.A.
Fitted Multi fuel Burner, Stove, Average Gas bill – £200 P.A. BUT, only £98 of that was for Gas. The rest is for standing charges etc etc.
I am resentful too when paying a standing charge as, perhaps like you, I am a low user of all utilities. There is an argument for them though. Utility companies have to maintain the distribution network to all their customers – regardless of whether they use the supply.
I think a better method would be to do away with standing charges and charge a higher price for the commodity that is being metered when consumption is above a certain level. This would mean that high users pay for the standing costs and people who use little pay less. This would help the poor and also encourage people to waste less energy and water.
The booking fee is a different thing entirely, a rather large fee for not much in the way of service.
Why does this paper use American spellings? It is ‘centre’ not center. We will be descibed as walking on the sidewalk watching a man peering under the hood of his car as he looks at the color of his oil if this keeps up.
Thanks Richard. We’ve now corrected the spelling.