Thames Water introduces new tariff system

One of the UK’s largest water companies is to introduce a new billing system, which it claims will make its customer charges fairer. Under the scheme, 38,000 homes which cannot be fitted with water meters for practical reasons will be divided into three price bands. The bands will be determined according to the number of bedrooms a property has. Thames Water said that the scheme will result in bills that are more representative of the water usage of the individual properties and will lighten the burden being shouldered by owners of smaller homes. As a result, bills for owners of one and two bedroom homes will fall by £17 to £200, while owners of homes with three or more bedrooms will pay £21 more than they previously, on average. Commenting on the scheme, Mike Tempest, customer services director at Thames Water said: "We wanted to make our charges fairer for those customers who wanted to pay for what they used, but couldn't have a meter fitted."