Martin Lewis urges UK households to make one move before £86 bill increase

Martin Lewis is urging households in England and Wales to make a switch before an “extortionate” increase to bills next year.

The MoneySavingExpert founder says that households could potentially save hundreds of pounds by switching to a water meter, as this way you only pay for what you use.

Regulator Ofwat has confirmed that it will allow water companies to hike average bills by £31 a year, or £157 in total, over the next five years to £597 by 2030 to help fund a £104 billion upgrade for the sector. The increase represents a 36% rise before inflation, which will be added on top.

But households will be particularly hard hit from April with an average hike of £86 – or 20% – front-loaded into the coming year, with smaller percentage increases following in each of the next four years.

The confirmed increase to bills is significantly higher than the 21% – or £19 per year – rise per household, outlined in Ofwat’s draft proposals in July and consumer groups have warned the price hikes are “more than what many people can afford”.

But according to Martin Lewis, households can slash hundreds of pounds off their bills simply by fitting a water meter and cutting down on their water usage.

Martin Lewis says his “rule of thumb” is if you have more bedrooms in your home than people, or the same number, then you “almost certainly should be using a water meter”.

Speaking on his ITV programme Martin Lewis Money Show, he explained: “If it looks like you’ve fulfilled my rule of thumb, then I’d go onto CCWater.org.uk, at the Consumer Council for Water. And then usually you get your firm to give you a proper assessment of how much it’s likely you will use.

“In most places, you have two years to change back if it doesn’t work for you, some places only one. A few firms do not let you change back so check before you sign up what the situation is with your water firm.

“If they say that fitting a water meter is not practicable, then actually what you do is you ask for an assessed charge and that means they will assess what your costs would have been likely to be if you had a water meter.

“So then if your assessed charge is lower than your water bill they go for the assessed charge, and if your assessed charge is higher than your water bill, stick on the water bill.”

The amount of money you can save by switching to a water meter will depend on your household’s water usage, as well as your water company. In most cases you have up to two years to switch back free of charge if it doesn’t work out for you.