Your bill

Yes you can pay with credit or debit card by using the online payment portal.

You will need to quote your payment reference number which can be found at the top right-hand side of your bill.

If you’ve received a bill which is higher than usual, don’t worry – there might be a simple explanation for that. 

Bill estimates

Was your previous bill an estimate? If so, we may have underestimated the amount of water you use, which means your most recent bill will appear much higher than your previous estimated bill. Also, check how many days your bills are covering. Although most bills are six months, it could be just under or just over that time frame.

When bills increase, it’s often because you’re using more water. Before you give us a call, please check the four steps below to see if this helps identify what may have caused an increase in your water usage.

You can also try our online water calculator. Simply answer a few questions, and we’ll estimate what your bill should be. We’ll also give you some handy tips on how to use less water – helping to reduce both your water and energy bills too.

Typical causes of a higher than usual bill

Are there more people living in your property?

• Have you got a new baby in the family?
• Do you have children back home from university
• Do you have any relatives staying with you for an extended period of time?
• Is a member of the family spending more time at home due to illness or retirement?

Do you have any new appliances in your property that may use more water?

• Have you had a power shower fitted recently
• Power showers use a lot more water than standard electric showers.
• Have you had a new combined washer/dryer fitted?  They use a lot more water than a standard washing machine as the washer/dryer uses cold water as part of the drying process.
• Are you using washing machines or dishwashers more than usual?

Have you been using more water outside your home?

• Have you been using a hosepipe or sprinkler in the garden? Sprinklers use as much water in one hour as a family of four will use in one day!
• Do you have any new water features in your garden such as a pond or swimming pool?
• Are you having any building work done which has led to more water being used?

Check for leaks

• Have you checked outside to see if water is leaking out of any overflow pipes from water tanks in the loft?
• Does your toilet have a modern cistern that overflows into the bowl? If yes, check to make sure the cistern is not constantly overflowing, as this will be wasting a lot of water.
• Have you checked all taps (including any outside taps) to make sure they are not leaking water?
• If you think you have a leak, you need to locate your stop tap and check to see if it shuts off the water. If it isn’t working, please call a plumber.
• If you are on a water meter and the meter dial is turning when you are not using any water, it is likely that you have a leak. Turn off your internal stop tap and check the meter. If the meter dial has stopped turning you may have a leak inside your property. If the meter is still turning when the internal stop tap is off, it is likely you have a leak on your private supply pipe and you should contact us.

Useful links…

• Ways to save money
• Water-saving calculator
• Report a leak
• Leakage Allowance Form

Still not figured out what could have caused your bill to increase? Get in touch.

For most of our customers, Wessex Water provides their sewerage services. A small number of our customers have their sewerage services supplied by Thames Water and Severn Trent Water. 

Your customer number can be found at the top of your bill. If you do not have your bill, you can call us on 0345 600 3600 or email us on customer.services@bwbsl.co.uk. Alternatively, we can help through live chat – just press the speech bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of our contact us page.

All information on your compensation or GSS can be found in our customer promise.

You can pay your bill by debit or credit card using our 24-hour automated telephone service by calling 0345 600 1019. You'll need to quote your 13-digit reference number which begins with 20 and can be found on your bill under your customer number. You can also pay your bill online via our website, through your online billing account, or by accessing our live chat on our contact us page by pressing the speech bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

Your current balance is available for you to view in the 'Account summary: payment' screen, on your online account. This should be updated within four working days of a payment being made. If you are not registered for our eBilling service or you are unsure whether your payment has been received and would like further information, please contact us on 0345 600 3600.

If you pay by Direct Debit a refund will be sent directly to your bank account. If not, a cheque will be sent in the post to you within five working days of your request.

We can name two customers on a bill and make notes on the account which details other tenants within the property. If we have evidence of a tenancy agreement that shows the liable tenants, we would chase all parties until the complete payment is received.

It's the responsibility of the tenants to ensure the bills are paid in full and on time. We won't become involved in third-party disputes.

If you have made a payment to us, or we have taken a payment in error, please let us know by contacting us on 0345 600 3600 and we will be happy to get this refunded to you.

If you are billed on a water meter, we will review your monthly payments on an annual basis in line with your usage.

Your bill is due and payable on issue. Visit our online billing page to pay your bill online.

If you have subscribed to online billing, you will receive an email advising you when you have a new bill. If you are facing problems paying or wish to discuss a payment arrangement to spread the cost, please contact us on 0345 600 3600.

You can pay for your new supply by BACS, by card using the online payment form or by sending us a cheque.

More information on this can be found on our new supplies and connections page.

You're normally liable for charges unless there's a specific clause in your tenancy agreement that states otherwise. If your landlord or landlady has said they're happy to take responsibility for paying the bill, they must notify us in writing.

If you receive Pension Credit or if your state pension is your only income, we can offer a bill discount of around 20%.

If you are in a low-income household, our bill cap scheme, WaterSure Plus,  could help reduce your payments.

Check your eligibility and apply today by visiting our WaterSure Plus page and using our Chatbot to check whether you're eligible for the bill cap scheme.

How we charge

We'll continue to send bills each time the meter is read. The bill will show the WaterSure Plus charge and, for your information only, how much your metered charge would have been. Once on the WaterSure Plus scheme, if your actual metered bill is lower than the reduced charge, we will only charge you the lower amount.

How to pay

For those customers with payment arrangements already in place, we'll update those arrangements and tell you of any changes. For customers who don't have a payment arrangement in place there are a number of payment options available such as Direct Debit or you can have your payments deducted from your benefits. 

Assist aims to help customers in extreme financial difficulty who cannot afford their water bill

Assist (reduced bill) is a scheme for low-income householders who are assessed as being in financial difficulty.

Visit our Assist page to apply online for a reduced bill or print out a form to fill in manually. 

If you're in debt with your water bill, the Restart scheme can help you get back on track and can be used alongside other payment schemes.

How it can help you

A two-year payment plan designed to cover your current usage and some of your debt. If all year one payments are met, at the end of the year we reduce the debt by an equivalent amount. In year two, if you continue to pay your current year charges, we will clear your remaining debt, and you will be back on track.

Are you eligible?

Customers in significant water debt but are able to cover their annual charges. Restart can be used alongside Assist and WaterSure Plus.

How to apply

To apply, you need to seek independent debt advice. Visit the Money Advice West website to find out which charity is nearest to you or call them on 0800 138 3422. Alternatively, you can contact the following:
Advice UK
CAB
deafPLUS
Step change
The Money Advice Service
Turn2us

We can make short-term changes to your payments if you find yourself in financial difficulties or we can look at having your payments come directly out of your benefits.

How it can help you

If short-term help is required, we are able to offer flexibility in payments to support short-term financial difficulty. Customers can pay less than they need to towards their water bill for an agreed period and catch up on payments later.

Are you eligible?

Customers who find themselves in short-term financial difficulty.

How to apply

If you are having difficulties paying your bill, please contact us and we can help you find the best way to spread the cost or reduce your water bill.

You can have your water bill payments come directly from your benefits with our Water Direct scheme.

Water Direct – using benefit payments

How it can help you

You can have your water bill payments come directly from your benefits. The amount you pay each week is worked out to cover the bill for the year and a small amount towards any debt.

This is a suitable solution if:

• you are in debt with your water bill and receive benefits.

Key features:

• You don’t have to remember to make payments.
• We will take no action to recover your debt while you are on Water Direct.
• You can pay any arrears directly from one of the following benefits:
  • income support
  • income-based jobseeker's allowance
  • pension credit
  • universal credit.

To qualify:

• you will need to be more than £50 in arrears 
• you need to have two failed payment arrangements or a debt recovery reminder 
• you or someone in your household must receive at least one of the following benefits:
  
  • Income Support 
  • Jobseeker's Allowance 
  • Employment & Support Allowance 
  • Universal Credit 
  • Pension Credit

Are you eligible?

Customers in debt with their water bill and in receipt of one of these benefits: income support, income-based job seeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, pension credit or universal credit.

How to apply

Apply for Water Direct online. You can also contact us to apply.

We do not offer a single occupancy discount. If you are a low water user, you may benefit from having a water meter fitted if you don't already have one, as you will only be paying for the water you use. Find out more about the benefits of a water meter. 

If you have a water meter and need to use a large amount of water for reasons you cannot control, WaterSure Plus may be able to help by putting a limit on the amount you have to pay. To qualify, you must receive one of the major social benefits or tax credits, such as:

• income support
• income-related employment and support allowance
• working tax credit
• housing benefit
• universal credit

In addition, you must either have three or more dependent children under 19 living with you, or someone in your household must have one or more of the following medical conditions, with the condition causing them to use a significant additional volume of water:

• Desquamation (flaky skin loss)
• Weeping skin disease
• Incontinence
• Abdominal stomas
• Renal failure needing home dialysis
• Crohn's disease
• Ulcerative colitis

Yes, you can make additional payments using a debit or credit card online. There's a minimum payment of £2 and you will need your 13-digit payment reference number.

If you pay by Direct Debit, please let us know first, to ensure the additional payment doesn't affect your monthly amount. The easiest way to get in touch is by calling us on 0345 600 3600 or by live chatting us on our contact us page. 

No. Unfortunately, water butts can overflow and usually do not collect all the water from a roof. However, if you are using water from a water butt rather than a hose and you are on a water meter, this will save you money.

Unfortunately we are unable to offer any student discounts. If you are struggling to pay your bill, please contact us and we can look into any available payment plans to help.

You can tell us about a new occupier on the Landlord and Tenant Address portal. Please note that since October 2016 we aim to install a water meter on properties which are currently unmetered when there is a change of occupier following a property sale or a new tenancy.

The infrastructure charge is in addition to any charges for connections or site-specific mains. The purpose of this one-off charge is a contribution to the cost of providing the network of pipes, pumping stations and treatment works necessary for the provision of water supplies.

For more information, contact our team on newsupplies@bristolwater.co.uk or 0345 602 8022

There is no cost to close your account. Depending on the status of your account and any payment arrangement you may have, there could be a final balance to pay.  If you're moving and need to tell us about your change of address, please complete the moving address online form. Alternatively, you can contact us. 

Your property's rateable value is shown on the front page of your unmetered bill. If you have not yet moved into a property and would like to find out the rateable value, please contact us.

Charging for water services is a complex matter, involving both the law (primarily the 1991 Water Industry Act) and our economic regulator, the Water Services Regulation Authority, which is referred to as Ofwat.

Your supply is either unmetered or metered, and this normally determines the way we charge for your water supply.

• Unmetered – We normally use the rateable value (RV) of your property and calculate the cost for the year in advance.
• Metered – We normally read the meter twice a year and you pay for the water you actually use.

We keep a record of our recent charges and past ones here.

If you feel you are struggling to pay your bills we have a range of payment plans to help support you. You can also contact us for support.

Your Direct Debit may increase if you are billed on a water meter. Your metered payment amounts are calculated based on an estimated annual bill plus any outstanding balance on your account, divided by the total number of instalments due. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Your payments could be adjusted due to your usage, a balance on the account, and in line with any changes in charges. 

We do not charge VAT on household water bills. If you are a business customer VAT is added to all new bills until we receive the correct SIC code advising us of your exemption.

If you think you are being charged VAT incorrectly, we can look into this for you.

No, you do not need to let us know. When you make an online payment your account will be updated automatically within five working days.

If you'd like access to your account but would prefer to receive paper bills again, go to the 'Bills' tab, select that you would prefer to receive paper bills and update your details. If you'd like to close your online account, please select the 'Account' tab and click the unsubscribe link located in 'Your Services - manage'.

We'll revert your account to paper billing. Please note that you'll still be responsible for the bills for your property. If you've moved or ceased responsibility for the account, please contact us. 

When you switch to a meter, you will be billed for any unmetered charges incurred until the day your meter is fitted. If you have paid your unmetered charges in advance, we will refund any overpayment to you by cheque or directly into your bank account if you pay by Direct Debit.

Unmetered and metered charges are structured differently. Metered standing charges cover the extra costs of maintaining and reading the meter and producing the bill.

The metered sewerage standing charge also includes the cost of dealing with surface water run-off from properties and highway drainage. These costs are included in the charge per pound of the rateable value for properties without meters. Therefore, you cannot directly compare metered and rateable value standing charges.

During March and April we update all unmetered accounts with the new annual charges and reset all payment plans for the new billing year. 
It means we don't take payments for unmetered bills in these months.

Customers without a meter pay their water charges according to the rateable value of their property. Rateable values were assessed by the valuation office of the Inland Revenue.

Following the introduction of the community charge and subsequently the council tax, the valuation office stopped setting or amending rateable values on 31 March 1990. They cannot be changed by us. If you feel you are paying too much for your services, it may benefit you to have a water meter installed.

Try our online water calculator to see how much you might save and find out more about water meters. 

The rateable value is individual to your property and is based on the valuation set by the Inland Revenue on 31 March 1990 which we are required by law to use.

No. Because unmetered water bills are based on the rateable value of a property and not its council tax banding, you may find that your neighbour lives in a similar house but that the rateable value of their property is different.

This means your water and/or sewerage bills will be different too. The rateable value does not reflect your council tax band which means that, if this changes, your rateable value will not.

If you have an unmetered bill and a monthly payment arrangement in place, your annual bill is split over 10 monthly instalments: May to February. We do not take payments in March and April because during these months we generate bills for the forthcoming financial year.

If you have a metered bill and pay by a monthly budget arrangement we can take a payment each month of the year. We will automatically review your payments annually.

Set up a Direct Debit.

Yes, your Direct Debit has been set up to pay off any outstanding balance and to build up a credit to pay off your bill when the meter is read. If your account is in credit by more than £30 at the time of your bill, this will be refunded automatically into your bank account within five working days.