United Utilities Water
Contact Details
Billing – Metered customers
United Utilities
PO Box 50
Warrington
WA55 1AQ
Billing – Unmetered customers
United Utilities
PO Box 459
Warrington
WA55 1WB
Contact Information
- Billing – Domestic customers, metered 0845 746 2222
- Billing – Domestic customers, unmetered 0845 746 1100
- Business customers 0845 746 2255
- Difficultly paying your bill 0845 746 2034
- Leakline 0800 330 033
- Water and wastewater enquiries & emergencies 0845 746 2200
- Pollution hotline 0800 195 1230
Customer services are open from 8am – 7pm on Monday to Friday and 8am – 1pm on Saturday.
General Information
United Utilities was created by the merger of North West Water and Norweb in November 1995. They are responsible water and wastewater networks as well as regulated electricity distribution in north west England and provide 2.9 million households with 2,022 million liters of water per day. The majority of water supplied comes from reservoirs with a small percentage from aquifers. Untied Utilities manage 140 treatment works, 381 service reservoirs and pump water through 40,600 KM of mains pipes.
- United Utilities provide water as well as dealing with the removal of waste water.
- The water that United Utilities supply is classed as soft to moderately hard.
Customer Services
United Utilities operate a Guaranteed Standards Scheme to ensure that all their customers receive a high standard of service at all times. Compensation is offered if deemed appropriate. United Utilities operate a Vulnerable Customer Scheme for their customers who receive certain benefits, as well as certain allowances for specific medical conditions. If you would like to apply for this then contact United Utilities on:
WaterSure (formerly known as our Vulnerable Customer Scheme) provides financial assistance to metered customers who use large amounts of water for essential purposes.
Telephone: 0845 309 3001
Minicom: 0808 143 1195
I live in Northwest and I am registered with UU. This supplier should be removed. My water bill has risen every year, this years it is increased nearly £150 a year. I am feeling like I am being legally robbed.
I have been having problems with United Utilities ever since we changed from direct debit to telephone banking and card payments two years ago. It seems they only know one way to resolve a problem, cut off your water and take you to court, despite you being registered with them as a vulnerable customer.
We started having payment difficulties, partly as our water bill doubled and partly as my husband had to give up work with cancer and incontinence. We went from paying £21.00 a month to a demand for £38.00 a month. Why? They put in new pipes, and someone has to pay for all of the leaks that they had while they did this. Put new pipes in the street mind, not our house!
We could not keep this up, along with many other bills so we got threatening letters despite paying what we had previously and telling them our problems.
I was told to claim Water Sure and to go on a special tarriff and they sent cards and set the new one at £25.00. Then they sent a bill for the year, and could not cope with the fact we were not paying direct debit. We were still making the monthly payment they set us on, so what was the problem? No-one seemed to know. We got told we had to go at least £200 in arrears to get some sort of help from the government and how much in arrears where we: £45.00 in credit!
Somehow we have now managed to get into arrears; £5.00 in arrears, but that does not count, so they agreed a payment scheme of £20.00 and sent us cards instead.
Then in March their legal department threatened to smash the door down and put a water meter in by force. The CAB stopped that nonsense and again they started the ball rolling to claim the help from the government and this time they told us we qualified. Two months communication went back and forth and nothing was sorted out and they said they would take us to court. Finally I demanded a call from a manager. A lady called Valarie rang me back and sorted it all out. She said we were not in enough arrears to claim the government help as we were only £20 in arrears. She put us on a social tarriff which is the same thing and sent us a new form that we filled in with our health problems and put us on a monthly budget scheme of £20.00. We received an apology, compensation and it was all in writing and we have a new agreement with them. So why 6 months later do I get another demand from their stupid legal team demanding £383.30 by 14 days or they will add another £100 to it for court costs, take me to court and if they get a judgement, they will add more costs to it?>
I was outraged: I made one phone call this morning: Take me to court and I will produce the letter from this Valarie and their managers apology and the agreement and may-be I will get a judgement against them and I am not paying it!
We are Extra Care Customers, but they do not care and they do not pay up under the Guarantee Scheme either despite not responding to me for two months last time!
What will my next move be?
I really do not know, but I am not paying more than the agreed £20.00 a month and they can take me to as many courts as they wish. I have an agreement which is legally binding and there is nothing they can do about it.
Cheers
Lyn-Marie
can not get hold of any body
Why are the WATER RATES rising so quickly? Ther are now 50% of COUNCIL TAX. I have a friend who works for United Utilities and he says that he spends a lot of each day doing very little. Is it not time that these companies were looked at more closely?
OFWAT have you ever heard of it ?? it allows or prevents price rises within the water industry these company cant just decide how much they raise prices, they are monopoly’s and as such need to justify all prices, unlike GAS and ELEC who have OFGEN WHO DONT APPEAR TO DO MUCH AT ALL as they say you can change suppliers if your unhappy
U.U turn off OAP’s water services without even warning us, we need water for our central heating, ie; no water no heat, I have now been without water for THREE hours, on a Saturday of all days, surely they could have done this work during the normal working week.
U.U get your fingers out !!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
As we are just two people (retired) living in a 4 bedroomed house, we pay £67.27 per month for water rates – I think this is very excessive, especially as a neighbour who lives by herself in a 4 bedroomed house, only pays £21.00 per month. I think we pay the most water rates in our road, why?
Ever heard of a water meter?? It would appear that your neighbour has and that they are only paying for the water that they use!.
Cumbria along with Northumberland is the wettest county in England, why then are our water rates among the highest. The national average water bill is something like £360, my bill is nearly £700, there are only the two of us. I have now applied to go on a water meter, but this is just one more thing to worry about. Why can’t Cumbria sell it’s excess water and reduce the local bills, after all it is a commodity that is worth a lot of money.
No matter how much rain falls in whatever part of the country this ‘raw’ water still has to be treated toa potable standard in order for you to be able to drink it. If your bill is £700 then you will be paying on the rateable value of your property rather than using a water meter. We are a family of four in the NW with a dish washer and washing machine on most days, bath, shower etc. and pay £24 per month through being on a meter. This is for both water supply and sewerage. Compare this to our gas and electricity of £56 and £78 per month I would hardly call my water bill excessive. Try a water meter then you will only pay for what you use. It’s a no brainer.
We are with UU. We are a couple living in a 1 bedroom flat, both out at work all day, have only 1 bathroom, 1 toilet, no garden (so no hosepipe) and use the washing machine 3 times a week. We pay monthly by DD and our water bills for our flat are very expensive, our friends pay less for a house/garden were more water is used. Why is that, we are thinking of asking for a water meter. Has anyone had one fitted who lives in a flat (our building is a conversion of 4 flats)? Did it work out any cheaper?
To Mr and Mrs J M Hill – It appears you either have a water meter and use a lot of water for two people or have a leak…..or do not have a water meter and are billed on rateable value. I suggest if you do not have a water meter to get one installed as this will measure your water bill on how much you actually use and not on what the government rate your property to be worth. This will explain your neighbours difference in bill price. One will have a meter and the other will not, in the most likely circumstance.