Incorrect charging is rife in the water industry, and although there has always been issues leading to overcharging historically, most businesses are unaware of the issue. This problem is nationwide, and affects single site sole trader companies as well as corporate multi-site customers.
It is a little known fact that the meter data stored in The Central Market Operating System (CMOS) is incorrect and this is the data that the water retailers use for billing their customers. Quite often, this data is based upon historically inputted information, and isn’t often updated without a direct request to do so from a water auditor.
As a result, a large percentage of water users are being billed incorrectly and are owed refunds (although it is through no fault of the water retailers as they must bill in accordance with the market data).
It’s often possible to see a 30% reduction in charges for water supply and waste water disposal following a water audit. During the course of an audit it’s quite common that we’ll uncover the opportunity to claim refunds for historical overcharges and we regularly see refunds ranging from up to £500,000 or more.
It is also estimated that a large percentage of businesses don’t compare water contracts in the same way that they do their energy bills, and huge savings can be made by switching supplier.
So what can customers do to check if their charges are correct or not and find out if they are owed a refund or if cheaper prices are available elsewhere?
By supplying copies of the last 2 water and waste bills, an audit will be conducted FREE OF CHARGE and if your business has been overcharged, you can begin a claim on a “No-Win, No-Fee” basis to claim your money back, and amend the CMOS data so that your charges are correct going forwards making you future savings.
We will also see if it is possible for you to save money by switching water supplier at the same time.
