South West Water
Contact Details
Head Office:
South West Water Limited
Peninsula House
Rydon Lane
Exeter
EX2 7HR
Customer Accounts:
South West Water
PO Box 4762
Worthing
BN11 9NT
Contact Information
- Head Office 01392 446 688
- Customer Services 0800 169 1144
- Customer Accounts 0800 169 1133
- Minicom 0800 169 9965
- Email customercontact@southwestwater.co.uk
- Website South West Water
- Water/Sewerage Emergencies 0800 169 1144
- Priority Services 0800 169 1133
General Information
South West Water provide water and sewerage services to Devon, Cornwall, and small parts of Dorset and Somerset, covering an area of approximately 4,300 square miles, serving around 1.6 million residents. 100 million gallons of litre is supplied through 10,000 miles of water mains to domestic and commercial customers each and every day.
As well as supplying water South West Water also deal with the removal and treatment of sewerage. There are over 5,500 miles of public sewers through the region which over 60 million gallons of waste water are channelled before being treated at any one of their 600 waste water treatment works.
- South West Water provides both water and sewerage services.
- South West Water is a soft water area.
- 164,957 tests were carried out on samples taken by South West Water Limited in 2003 and 99.92% of these tests complied with the Regulations set by OFWAT.
Customer Services
South West Water offer Guaranteed Standards of Service which they aim to satisfy on a daily basis. These include such aspects as response times to queries and notice given for interruption of service. If these standards have not been met then customers might be eligible for compensation. For more information contact South West Water on 0800 169 1133.
DROWNING IN DEBT AND SURVIVING ON A PITTANCE… with South West Water and Jobseekers allowance.
I rang up there so called help line 0800 169 1133 because that’s what it says to do on there payment book. Problems paying it states. Well to me that means help is here at last as I have a problem paying my water debt. You tell them you can’t afford the ongoing payments or arrears can you reduce them until I get back into work.
I offered them £5.00 per week, I thought “something is better than nothing” and South West Water even refused that, instead they try to bully you into paying the weekly ongoing water rates, and they also try and force you to pay of your arrears as well. Well I am sorry to say that if I could pay my ongoing water bill and the arrears I wouldn’t be ringing you in the first place. I am sorry South West Water but my original phone call was to tell you I have no more money and can’t even afford the normal weekly amounts at the moment.
So why bother having the highlighted words printed on the page as follows. “If you have problems paying your instalments, please tell us call our debt helpline now on 0800 083 0283.” Well I have and they don’t listen they quote also on that page “We will review your charges with you to check whether a different charging method or tariff would help you pay less. We will also discuss your personal circumstances with you to help us try and agree” (no mention of bullying). But I DOUBT the water board will give a toss. A payment plan that will help you pay. Well I am skint on £60.50 per week job seekers and have to keep a house on it. Since losing my job. I have been to the so called Bodmin Job Centre Plus (Joke Shop) looking for a job and what a waste of time that place is. All the staff there wants to do is find ways each week how not to pay you your Jobseekers Allowance.
South West Water then blackmails you with threats of court action and that it could affect your credit rating to scare you into paying. Well I am sorry to announce I am already one of the poor of Cornwall already blacklisted so that scare tactic won’t wash (ha) with me. Don’t forget even before or when South West Water take you to court and win the case of which they normally do by default they still are not allowed by law to switch of your water for health reasons Private Dwellings. So at least you can flush the toilet and have a shower so when you go to and fro to court you will look and smell clean. You cannot be disconnected for water rates debts Private Dwellings.
You’ve heard that old saying you can’t get blood out of a stone well South West Water think they can. So next time south west water harass me they can have the shirt of my back Sweat and all as I cant afford to wash it. What makes me laugh even more is you even have to pay for the water that runs of your roof and the water that goes down the road drains outside your house in your sewage charges. The company, which already charges the highest rates in the UK, announced operating profits up almost a fifth in 2008 (17.8) per cent to £185 million. In February 2008 it declared it was raising prices to an average of £700-per-year to pay for improvements in the water system in the region. The average bill in London is just £275.
South west water borrow millions of pounds for improvements against the poor to there infrastructure and ‘Clean Sweep’ schemes, which means I the poor shall still have to pay interest on the money they borrow even after work on individual schemes has been completed and then try and force fools like me who are the black listed with no credit history in this country, with a poor credit history to pay for it. If I went to the bank to borrow money to pay my water bill they would laugh me out the door. The share holders should be forced to pay more they are the ones with all the big profits who live in their luxury country retreats. And me the poor of Cornwall who live an existence in rented social housing accommodation.
Water companies can no longer disconnect your water supply if you are in arrears. The rules changed on 30 June 1999. They also cannot install anything in your home that restricts the flow of water from the taps. If the water company threatens to disconnect you for being in arrears, complain to Ofwat the body that regulates the water companies or phone us on 0800 074 6918 for advice.
Warning: Some water companies are threatening to disconnect a property on the basis that “they think the property is empty”. Private Dwellings
Make sure you keep in touch with the company as they may attempt to do this if no one has responded to their letters for some time. If you have a threat of disconnection to your supply, ring the water company and make sure they understand that you are still in the property and they cannot disconnect the supply.
How to deal with water rates arrears?
You should carry on including your current water rates in the STEP 2 OUTGOINGS section of your personal budget. This is because water is an ongoing bill. If you have water rates arrears then they no longer need to be treated as a priority debt. And that famous saying for the love of money is the root of all evil. Timothy, 6:10 is true. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
I’ve recently moved to Cornwall due to my husbands work, we do have family here too, and everyone says how great it is and the cost of living is so cheap down here!!! I don’t think so, no one warned me though, wow water costs a bomb here! I’m used to paying about £180 a year in Hertfordshire, it’s over £700 here. I’m pondering about moving back
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South West water is the worst run utility in the country. Together with their chums at Ofwat have conspired to give the poorest people in the UK the highest water bills. The area they cover is one of the wettest in the Kingdom, and has the highest water bills, so much for supply and demand! The truth is that the Directors and the shareholders are so full of their importance that they have allowed their own avarice to cloud their judgment. Unlike other utilities they are not subject to any competition and can charge what they like. I am also led to believe that the companies offices in Exeter have recently been refurbished costing us a least one million pounds. The fairest way to charge for water is for each household to pay pro rata of income, a water tax set nationally. By the way how many people remember when the water rate was paid to the local council?
The thing that strikes me on this comments page is the difference of opinions about the charges. The majority of comments think SWW are much too high and when compared to the rest of the UK totally unfair. These comments obviously come from people like myself born and bred in the West Country (Cornwall myself) who are on West country wages or a pension (approx 10% of income used to pay SWW). Then there are are those who seem oblivious to the charges and actually praise SWW. These are obviously wealthier or more brain washed than the rest of us (or SWW employees/shareholders). One way SWW could save money is to cut all ties with May Gurney (oh sorry I forgot they are part of SWW and just a tax fiddle).
Water rates are among the highest if not the highest in the UK when Cornwall is one of the poorest paid counties. Water rates of over £750 for a two bed flat and I am disabled. They said they would reduce to £500 but haven’t. What can I do to reduce the cost? A water meter is impossible to fit they say.
Firstly the stars are for politeness. I’ve lived in Bstoke 5yrs and to be honest the water sucks, it’s hard and my skin is going dry. I’ve never had this anywhere else, I’ve lived all over the country from London to Scotland and the limescale is pathetic, why isn’t there some kind of filter that syphons it off just before it reaches the tap? And charging single people the same as people who blatantly waste water is not an incentive to be green.
People think bills are too high, I have a family of 4, and pay £30 a month for water through my meter. This is £1 per day, for the whole of my family to drink, wash, clean clothing, cook etc. Do you hear of people complaining of gas and electric charges (not really), they only bring it to your door, they do not take it away as well as the water companies. I think these companies should be targeted for price reductions, not water companies. Some people should find something better to do than whinge.
I live in a council house in Plymouth with my children. I am paying an amazing £104 a MONTH for my water. When i lived in Watford it was only £45. Wish iIknew how they can get away with ripping people off like this.
I think they are scandalous. I recently had a threatening letter from SWW demanding money for somebody that didn’t live at my address! I tried to ring them no success, I tried to leave messages no success, I sent them emails no success. In the end I sent them the money by cheque myself asking to stop any further action and asked them to explain what the bill is for? They have actually cashed in the cheque and have not explained what the bill is for. Surely, this can’t be legal?
I lived in a house that was split into 3 flats and we all paid full water rates so that’s over £2000 for 1 house if you think about it and there was only 5 people in that whole property.