If you're on a meter
You’ll only pay standing charges if the meter doesn’t record any water.
If you're not on a meter
If there is no furniture in the house and you’re not carrying out any refurbishment work there, you won’t have to pay any charges. If there is, full charges will still apply.
We may make special arrangements if you have furniture in your house, but have gone into hospital for a long period of time. You can contact us to talk to about this.
Yes, but if you’re not on a meter and paying rateable-value-based charges, we offer a 50% renovation allowance. To apply for this, complete our online form on MyAccount or contact us on 0344 346 1010.
We’re sorry to hear about your loss and appreciate that this may be a difficult time for you.
We want to keep things as simple as possible, you can notify us online and to have a look at the bereavement support we offer, or if you prefer, just call our team on 0344 346 1010.
They're available 9am - 6pm Monday to Friday, Saturdays 9am - 12pm
If you need to let us know about any changes, you can contact us by phone, online, or via MyAccount to let us know.
We'll need to know if:
- You’ve got married
- You've legally changed your name
- You're adding or removing a person from your bill account
- You are advising us of a correction to a billing address.
Yes, you can request a refund.
If you're on a meter, and your bill has been calculated based off an actual reading (rather than an estimated one), you can request a refund by contacting us on 0344 346 1010, or online.
If you're moving house and wanting to close an account that's in credit, please remember to provide us with a forwarding address. We'll need to send you your final bill and confirmation of any refund to this address. If we can't refund directly into your bank account, we'll post you a cheque for the right amount.
If we haven't got your forwarding address, the credit will stay on your account until you let us know.
From 1 April 2025, our average annual household bill for water and wastewater services is £686, compared to £545 11 years ago. This follows a series of below inflation rises in recent years. This is unlike many other water companies who are announcing average bill increases.
In the South West we enjoy miles of open countryside and coastline, we have about a third of the country’s bathing waters with about 3% of the population.
This is quite unique and means we need many more treatment works and thousands of miles of pipes to provide drinking water to everyone and to take wastewater away.
To put this into context – Thames Water can serve nearly 4 million customers in East London from one wastewater treatment plant; to serve our 1.7 million customers, we have to maintain more than 650 wastewater treatment plants across four counties and along two coastlines.
The good news is that our bathing waters are among the best in the world with 100% meeting strict bathing water standards, and this helps the tourist industry to bring billions of pounds into our region.
This government contribution was originally introduced in 2013, in recognition of the unique circumstances faced by our region, where 3% of the nation’s population live, but where we look after one third of the country’s coastline.
The £50 contribution has been an important step to ensure bills remain manageable for customers who help fund this essential coastal protection for the entire country. The contribution directly benefited customers. We have worked hard to be efficient.
We have driven efficiencies to drive down bill levels, with bills lower today than they were 10 years ago. We have also delivered £100m of support to customers who have affordability issues in this regulatory period. £200m is set aside to support customers as part of our 2025-2030 plan as we invest £2.8bn in the region.
The removal of the contribution is due to be effective from 1st April 2025 and we will be working with our customers to help them understand what it means for them, and how we can help.
Removing the £50 contribution across the South West is one of several tough decisions this government has had to make. We're here for our customers, with a £200m support package, doubling down on our pledge to eradicate water poverty by 2030 and one of a handful of water companies doing so.
We don't offer discounts for single occupiers, but we can recommend you switching to a meter if you haven't already so that you only pay for the water you use.
You can see how our bills are calculated here to further understand how you're charged.
If we can't fit a meter at your property, you'll be offered an assessed charge which is based on the number of people living there.
If you start to, or are already struggling to pay your water bill, there are ways in which we can help. Check our our financial support section or contact us to find out more.