I wish there was a button for me to award this "most helpful comment of the year".

For most residential properties it is if the gutter down pipe goes into the mains drainage system. This will be the case in the majority of houses in towns and cities.
If you live in a more rural location and your house is set back from the road or is on a minor road you may not have this, but a soakaway.
A soakaway can be several things, a pond area on the land, natural rocks under the garden or man made with either a gravel bed (above or below ground) or a soakaway tank.

Hmm

Didn't tell me what a soakaway is and it seems that would be an important thing to know.

some more information here

So what am I actually looking for? If I have a drain in the area?

What's a soakaway and how do I know if I have one?!

Ditto the above-could you please explain in very basic terms what we should be looking out for

Link in 1st comment is quite helpful.

Very interesting tip

Thanks! A friend's home has soakaways in their front and rear gardens. Voted hot :smiley:

Thanks.

Thanks. Will check

Hmm

good post. I have private drainage and my water bill reflects this. they only charge for water supply. I had to pursue this for months but got best result in end

If you have a tank as opposed to mains sewerage the same applies, but the savings are much bigger.

Also don't assume this only applies to older properties. In my terrace, approx 10 years old it had a soak away. I have no idea how I found this out though.

Now I'm thinking how I can work out if my current property has one

if you get this rebate, you better use some of that money to get a decent home insurance

What did the rep actually do?

Lots of sources are saying look in your house deeds....if you own it of course

For most residential properties it is if the gutter down pipe goes into the mains drainage system. This will be the case in the majority of houses in towns and cities.
If you live in a more rural location and your house is set back from the road or is on a minor road you may not have this, but a soakaway.
A soakaway can be several things, a pond area on the land, natural rocks under the garden or man made with either a gravel bed (above or below ground) or a soakaway tank.[/quot
This link may help explain, I think in reality very few properties will be eligible.
http://www.unitedutilities.com/surface-water-drainage.aspx

Will this apply if you live in Scotland thanks

Soakaways are man made. usually 1mx1mx1m below the drain invert level at point of entry. They are filled with general building clean brick/stone material - no deleterious material - wood etc and allow the water to drain through into the subsoil. It is worth carrying out a soil porosity test to determine the rate the water flow away. This can be done with a hosepipe at formation of the hole.
Ponds and watercourses are not soakaways and any watercourse will need permission from Water Authority to discharge into it - for obvious reasons.

how do you find out?

There seems to be a trend on this site just lately for people to question the helpfulness of people's comments; since when do comments need to be helpful?! People can comment for whatever reason they please. One could easily argue that your response was equally as unhelpful as the one it mocks.

Also keen to know if this applies for Scotland

I had a water meter fitted and my water bill went down from £35 per month to £17 per month - saved me £216 per year. You can try having the meter for a year and if you don't save you can go back to being unmetered. Big savings to be made and the water meter is fitted free. It also doesn't have to be read as it is a smart meter and reads itself. Well worth doing.

You were lucky to get backdate 6 years as they are legally only entitled to backdate a year and most only do this

I'm guessing this is a no. But this is not for flat/apartment residents?

My garage has a soakaway

What if you have a mix of soakaways AND some use of the drain?

I would get that checked as he may have a leak somewhere. My house with 5 of us living there costs only just over £600pa. Switch off the water supply in the flat and see if the water meter continues to move. Meters will always be cheaper than unmetered unless you're filling a swimming pool or pond every year.

fulbus. having worked at seven tent water I know all about swd. the water companies are actually scamming customers and using the regulator ofwat to do it. all water companies are responsible for new connections. when a developer submits an application to build new homes he also submits an application and plan as to how he intends to deal with water, foul and swd. so the water company knows in advance whether a newly built home is connected to their system. however once the house is built the billing section of the water company takes over and creates a new account. they add all the services as standard. the only question they ask is whether the new build is a flat/terraced, semi or detached and place the property in the appropriate banding. their thinking is of the property is not connected then the customer will dispute the charge. most customers are oblivious of all this and assume the printed charges are correct. in this way water companies make money from providing no service. when the customer does find out the water companies have covered their backs through their scheme of charges which had been ok'd by the bungulator ofwat.

I tried to claim this two years ago as my extension moved both gutter downpipes and linked them up to a buried gravel pit which is adjacent. However, they feed into this pit through standard pipes and the water board (Northumbrian Water) despite having the building plans, have stated that they would have to excavate in order to prove this which is completely impractical.

Hmm :smiley: I'm doing my best :man:

How would this affect a semi- detached house where the only drain on the property is for the kitchen sink? My roof guttering shares the neighbours drain pipes which are all located on their side of the boundary line, IE on the other side of the fence in their garden.

Can you post pictures please of what I'm looking for.
I have a drain but not sure where it goes lol

It's not for everyone but I don't do anything differently and I'm paying half of what I was paying. Big savings for me and unlucky for your brother.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain08.html

The easiest way to tell if your surface water goes to a soakaway is to confirm that it doesn't go into the public sewer.
You will likely have two inspection chambers on your drive, one for foul; and one for surface water. Take the cover up next time it is raining and see if water is leaving your property. You might struggle to get the cover up without manhole keys.Health and safety rules apply... don't fall in or leave it open unsupervised etc.

Thanks for this OP. Have sent enquiry to my provider as all my run off goes into private soakaway :smiley:

£18/month?! 1987 called, they want their water rates back.

Many tks for the tip off on this rebate! gonna apply for a rebate from Anglian water as my builder had to dig a new soakaway in my back garden for my new orangery extension, and he also had to unblock my soakaway in my front garden, so none of my roof rain water goes back into the mains drain....

leak or someone else connected to his water.

where do you get legally entitle for a year? from the OFCOM link

Sometimes your company does know, or might reasonably be expected to have known, that your property was not connected to its sewerage system for surface water drainage. In this case we would expect it to apply the rebate (and refund any money overpaid) from the date at which it knew (or might reasonably be expected to have known) the property was not connected.

this to me implies that it has a historic legal obligation to refund money.

You really should check for leaks, we have a 4 bed 2 bath property with 5 people and only pay around £40pm for our water!

We have a soakaway at the back, and are connected to drains at the front- 50percent rebate perhaps?

On the water meter front, if you live in a property that can't have a water meter (i live in a block of ex council flats) then you also save money. Our bills were halved after we requested a water meter and they found we could not have one

5 people and 3 bathrooms and we pay £35 per month. We had no choice with meter as we moved into a house with one that had been installed but much better off than last house which had no meter. Best get it checked out.

Same here with having no option with the meter, definitely no leaks though and just had the meter replaced so perhaps the bill will come down, but going from no meter in our old place, one less munchkin and one less bathroom, we still pay less now so I'm quite happy

Yep £18 ! Why what does everyone else pay? I think its related to house size/council tax banding etc. Its a 2 up 2 down end terraced in council tax band A, probably why its so low :smiley:

The front of my property has surface water going into drains but the rear has a soakaway in the garden. Would this qualify for a rebate?

I did this a few years ago and never got the backdated bit. Also all my drainage water from the roof flows into my neigbours downpipe so is this still valid?

Don't think this is relevant for a large portion of the country due to drainage actually being gutters etc.... I have a soakaway too but mainly things go down the drain. So i'll vote cold on the basis most won't be able to use it.

Is there a template email letter anywhere as I'm a lazy donkey lol

water bill ??? everyday I learn new things

I think you are struggling with the meanings of those terms.

What if one lives in a block of flats, where technically I suppose only the residents on the top floor would be liable...?

Can those living in floors below claim a rebate?

thanks did not know about this have a soakaway.

To claim "meters will always be cheaper...." is categorically not true and could be highly misleading. Meter vs. no meter is entirely variable and depends on a number of factors including property type and size, number of occupants, number of baths / showers per week, garden hose usage, washer/dishwasher usage, etc. Many would go back to unmetered at the drop of a hat, but sadly do not have the choice.

"date at which they knew" is deliberately vague, they could argue that they didn't know until you call?? I applied for this last year, inspection was a formality, we have no inspection covers on our property and the nearest one is on our neighbours land behind a locked gate. We just had a chat for a bit and then sent in the forms, we got current year + last refunded.

I'm sure that I read recently that you can try one for year and if you're not happy, have it removed??

So how do they work out the charge for a block of flats with a roof area equivalent to a large detached house but 5 floors high?

Check the toilet refill also. A flat I visited had one of theirs constantly running into overflow and they didn't realise because they weren't metered. Lots of places that could potentially go wrong

I have a soakaway for my ground floor extension roof, but the rest of the house goes into thje public sewers, can I still claim?

Cheers for posting this - just applied myself! Have some heat

We live on a private lane with five other properties that were all built in 2006. It came to light a couple of months ago that four of us were paying for surface drainage water. One, being more switched on, had never paid it. We all contacted Severn Trent and an engineer was duly sent to pour dye down the drains. It was confirmed all our drains were linked to a soakaway installed when the houses were built. We all received a payment back dated to 2006 for over £800. Thank you Severn Trent!

I'm on the case to see if I have a soakaway! Many thanks OP! For info, we are on a water meter, live in a four bed roomed detached house, two adults and two children and only pay £22 a month. Absolute bargain. This included filling a deep 8ft swimming pool with water last summer!

We were allowed 2 years to change back to un-metered water when we went on a meter 2 1/2 years ago. Anglian Water were installing meters to all properties in our area that didn't already have them. We have saved £150 per year for 3 adults in a band E property.
I have read also that when you move out of an un-metered property, It will then automatically be metered thereafter and there is no going back to un-metered. Not sure if this is all water companies. I think we should all pay for what we use anyway.

Not for me but WHAT A HOT DEAL indeed!
Way to go for those who can use it.
Voted hot with thanks

its not vague at all UKIP Hampshire have campaigned for this injustice since 2014.
They have had enough reasonable time of 29 years to write to the owners since 1987. They also would of had opportunity to record this fact with any planning communication between the water company and building control on any extension. They also had a reasonable chance to identify a property when installing a water meter. I suggest you read this thread on how to get your money back http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4549449 where the person got fobbed off with a year then managed to get all his charges backdated.

Don't think this "rebate" is applicable if you are on a water meter though.

That is true however if you find after 12 months that you would be better off unmetered then you can revert back to the old payment method. The meter does stay in but is redundant. So your statement is correct but not the full story.

Very well put. For info, any future occupant would revert to metered billing as the 'try before you buy' only applies once and only to the occupier living there at the point the meter was installed.

That's opposite what I was told by anglian water. They told me that I can remove meter only in first 12 months from when it was fitted. Maybe something changed or it was some idiot.

I called Severn trent water and I couldn't explain it to them, maybe I didn't understand it very well, I live in a flat from a house converted into 3 flats from Birmingham council, am I entitled for this?

I'm not trying to be a killjoy but I suspect that many people who think they qualify for this, actually don't.
You only get it if none of the rainwater that falls on your property, and that includes your paths and driveways, ends up in the public sewer, and the "sewer" includes the rainwater drains (gulleys) in the road outside.
I didn't qualify at a previous property because although the rainwater from the house and garage went to soakaway, I had a tarmac drive that sloped towards the pavement, so the rainwater from that ran onto the pavement and from there to the drain in the road.
Quote from my water company;
"If your property is in the main part of a town, it is extremely unlikely that its surface water will not end up in one of our sewers".
Good luck to those who apply, but don't get your hopes up.

my estate got a letter offering us all a rebate for 6 years for this.
Unfrotunately they also changed rthe metres and supposedly I now use 20% more than the old meter said I did.. would say its netted its self off but im now £80 a year worse off... argh

I've just checked. I live in a semi and none of my drain pipes are connected to drains.

The one from the porch just goes onto my garden.
The one from the conservatory goes into a water bin for using on the garden.

But..

The 2 big ones either side of my roof drain towards next doors house, which then goes into the main drain, so I doubt I'd get away with claiming this one!

We live in Manchester.. and they charge us for water????
F.G.

Make people jump through various hoops and you can continue charging the ones who just pay up regardless. Same with that energy rebate for people on benefits, they don't actively tell people about it - you have to work out such a thing exists and phone and sign up for it.

Many stories like this, few happy stories about water meters. Steer clear of them.

Had a water meter fitted at least 10 years ago was paying £400 pa water rates. Have never paid more than £300 on a meter. If you've got more bedrooms than people it should be the best option.

How right you are. The only way I knew about the rebate for energy was when I got a laptop. I would never have known otherwise!

And thats why I say that I don't think people on a meter can claim this refund as the "rates" you pay when on a meter, hardly come to much more than £40 a year anyway, so you're not going to get that back as well otherwise all you would pay for each year would be the water you actually use and nothing for any of the infrastructure involved in getting it to you in the first place and for maintaining the service too!

That sounds like a lot. I live alone, loads of showers, always using the washing machine, the dishwasher etc, mine's only £16 per month.

We got a reduction on our water rates some years back, by raising this issue - rain water running down driveway and into garden/patio area, because there's no drainage or soakaway. Can't remember what the process was, but some relatively simple form-filling, plus I think they inspected the street/driveway etc and that was it really.
I made my own soakaway by taking up some patio slabs and back-filling the gaps with chippings, which now stops the patio area from flooding.

Doesn't apply to me, I'm guttered.

​There is no legal obligation to refund. It has taken work by customers and their representative body, the Consumer Council for Water, to convince water companies and the regulator to be forthcoming with rebates.

​You are correct that subsequent occupants will be considered metered customers.

​The meter will never be removed except for updating when it wears out.

My deeds state

"The proposed surface water will discharge via either permeable paving (for the road) or soakaways. A positive drainage system will not be utilized".

Do I qualify? It's a new build 1 year old 2 bed terrace.
Cheers

my supplier is Affinity water, they siad my waste water is controled by thames water, but i have it invoice by affinity, so affinity tells me to deal with thames, thames tells me to deal with affinity, can some one help me please?

From a new build point of view you are correct (but size would vary depending on soil, (clay content) and size of run off area). But from a claiming your money (or not paying for) surface water the points I mentioned are or may be applicable. For example my friends parents don't pay the surface water charge and they have a reed pond at the end of the land which takes any excess water that they don't store for garden watering.

Front and back downpipes drain into soakaways however at the side a downpipe drains into a foul water sewer. Do I qualify?

this is for posh poeple in there country houses.If you need help paying water bills, there is help:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/water/water-supply/problems-with-paying-your-water-bill/help-with-paying-your-water-bills/

Nice one, Thames Water here: https://my.thameswater.co.uk/dynamic/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/15757.htm

I live in a mid terraced house and theres no down pipe front or back from the gutter as the downpipes are on our neighbours houses. Also we have no water draining into gutter. Do u think we may qualify?

Never heard of Google then? If not,it has this fantastic search function to help you find things out.

Managed to get backdated bill to April 2013 from Anglian Water. Did the form online; if anyone else uses it make sure your answer the question about the water from your driveway carefully, if you state it goes onto the road then they will not honour the rebate. Also we had a meter fitted in 2001 so I'm a bit annoyed our soak aways were not picked up by the person fitting the meter. Has anyone else had success reclaiming money from further back than 2013? Is it worth pursuing?

I have 4 water butts, will that qualify?

Well, I live out in the sticks where there is no mains sewerage, no drains and all my water goes into a tank/soakaway in my back garden, so according to the OP and all the comments in here, I would be entitled to the £40 annual rebate. So what you are saying that having a meter is irevelant, would mean that as my "standing charge" for having a water meter is about £8 per quarter (£32 per annum) and the rest of what I pay on my bill is for the amount of water I use, that Anglian Water (my company) are going to pay ME £8 per year for the privilege of supplying me with the water and all the infrastructure and upkeep it needs then?!!...utter rubbish, I'm afraid as that would never ever happen.

That's not the point.
Vital information was left out of the deal post.
Nice try being funny though.

​Check your toilet valve switches water off when the system is full and not overflowing back into the pan.

Brilliant! Heat :stuck_out_tongue:

I've applied for the rebate. Thanks OP.

Then how about adding it, rather than expecting the OP to do everything for you.

Thanks

I found out about this approx. 20 years ago. A few years ago when I had a water meter fitted I was told I would no longer qualify for the rebate!!

Do you not understand how posting a deal works?
I give up.

Don't forget that if you don't have a water meter, and you live on your own, you may be able to get a single occupancy discount.

​http://www.diyfixit.co.uk/building/installing-a-soakaway-for-surface-water-drainage.html

Hope so this is gonna help you.

When I looked at this for my local area 100% of the water needed to go into the soakaway. In practice my (edited) driveway drains to public road so water would end up in public sewer. Therefore, no rebate for me. Fair enough (edited)

Totally agree

how is the number of bathrooms people have relevant? we've got two but I don't use both each time I shower or take a dump. and for the people complaining about how much their bills are, you could stop using so much water? a cubic metre is a lot of water, and it's what £3-4 for supply and waste per cubic metre? we take for granted how clean and cheap our water is.

In discussion is a rain/surface water soakaway not to be confused with normal soakaway from septic tanks that takes foul water away. If you have a septic tank the water company will most definitely already know and not charge for mains drainage. In question is if your house has a gutter that drains rainwater into your land rather than the mains drain. You would probably have an idea you had one as there may be a boggy/puddley area where it is. But worth checking just in case.

I have never idea if I have a Soakaway but I have contacted my water company anyway. Let's see what they say so big thanks op!

Thanks for that, I'll give them a call tomorrow. Sounds like I just ended up speaking to some chimps in their call centre last time.

I'm so dim, I didn't realise I paid a water bill... So no chance I know what a soak away is.. Why do some peoples water bills vary so much? Mine is a lump sum added onto my council tax ..

I live in a flat with properties above and below. Therefore, rainwater does not touch my property. Should I be paying this?

All local Authorities ask to see 1 m/cube stated on Building Regulations specifications. If you read my comments I broached a soil porosity test. If subsoil is predominantly clay you provide more soakaways in relation to roof area discharge.

Yes I'm fully aware. But nobody here is looking to add one to a new build here to save upto £40. People are here to see if their existing house (that may be several hundred years old) is likely to be eligable to be able to claim. They want to know in plain English what to look for.

Possibly a Chartered Building Surveyor. :smiley:.

What do you think it is if you live in a flat?

This has been on my list of things to do, and this post and has got me into action. I know my house has soakaways from recent building work, so thanks OP for an excellent post.

My surface drain is shared with my neighbour. Should I be paying the full cost? tia

Why would you wish to pay somebody. All people want is the information they need to do a check if they are likely to be able to make a claim. The water company will do the rest. Either you will be elagble or you won't and they will give the reasons.

As easy as ABC, just phone up the water board, they will check your drainage and will either say yes or no .

I was aiming for sarcasm and maybe a little pedantry. I promise to do better in the future.
However, I still disagree with you about vital info. It is not the OP's job to be wikipedia, it's to bring deals to your attention. Which they did. If you want information spoon feeding to you, this is the wrong site.

I say this respectfully, no belligerence intended BTW.

How about if every deal posted lacked information you needed to know and you had to Google them too?
Just think about it.. Every deal you clicked on you had to spend further time doing research to find out whether the deal was relevant or of interest to you.
Wouldn't that be fun?
No.

Yes ive just asked god and he said i should be excluded. There is a god afterall

If the property is built after 2000 the customer is entitled to the SWD reduction from their occupation date or 6 years (whichever is later).

If the property built before 2000 the SWD reduction should be applied from 01 April 2013 or the start of occupation date whichever is later.

I work for a department that installs water meters and if you apply for a meter you have 12 months to test out the meter. At any time during the 12 months you can change ur mind and have the meter switched off. They won't remove the meter as eventually everyone will be on a meter so there's no point taking it out and putting in again. They will just switch it back on when it becomes compulsory to have meters for everyone in the area.

Any idea how long it will take to make everyone have their water metered? It should be compulsory anyway.

Well they have started it in some areas already. I think Bexley is one of the areas. They are rolling it out steadily.

That's Thames Water

Hi Spicerboy - our property was built in 2004 so we should be getting 6 years from your statement - where did you get that information from please as I may need it to beat our supplier with

Thanks

Bob

Hi this is from the email I had from Anglian water who told me I can only get from 2013 due to my house being built before 2000

Sorry. Not sure I understand what you're writing. You'd be ineligible for a rebate because you're not paying a SWD charge...hopefully also not paying a sewerage charge.

But if you were on the public network, your eligibility for a SWD reduction would be honoured whether you were metered or not.

Sorry...that was supposed to quote someone.

For those asking if this applies in Scotland, I don't believe it would as our water supply isn't privatised. Scottish Water says this on their website:


To me that implies that a single charge is levied for any waste water services, not split according to the type of waste water services required. Always worth checking directly with them, though :-)

Apologies if already answered, don't have time to check all the comments here ;-)

Thanks Op, for email from Southern Water today confirming they will refund what I'm owed - £112!! Thanks!!!

They didn't even have to come out, literally an email agreeing :smile:

is this applicable on Scotland too?

I live in a 21-storey ex-council block of flats, am I eligible for this exemption? Can't say I've ever noticed any drainage gutters or pipes on the building...

''If you've heard all they got to say, you looked but turned away
Just soakaway, soakaway if you've said all you got to say
Now the words just slip away, just soakaway, soakaway, soakaway
That's what they say, what they say, what they say, you gotta soakaway''

Wow £39 pound? I would have been happy with just £39.

For anyone who could borrow a digger, creating a soakaway could be cost effective.

I did this about 10 years ago, we had been in the house 10 years (Thames Water). I got only 1 year rebate, the ****.
It was easier then because you got a bill through the post and it clearly stated water surface charge. Today with it all online most people can't be bothered. What really **** me off is they DO KNOW if your rainwater goes into their drains or not, but they charge regardless. Imagine it the other way round!!
F. rip off merchants, all of 'em. And all mostly foreign owned as per usual.

When I did my claim (soakaway, ie drainpipes simply go from gutter into ground, NOT into Thames Water drains) all those years back, nobody came out. It was all done by letter. They bloody well knew it didn't go into their drainage, and they will know about yours too. FFS it's their drains, do you think they don't know? Of course they do! But they still put that bloody charge on everybody's bill. CLAIM IT BACK if yours doesn't go into their drainage.

I tried to alert other people years ago, but like most they simply could not be bothered. They gave their money to the Water Authorities. We sit on our asses too much. CLAIM IT BACK!
They only gave me a year back, (and naturally stopped making that charge to me from that point.)

Now I know someone has got 6 YEARS rebate, Thames Water will be hearing from me again! I don't give up where money (MINE) is concerned. You should be the same.
Bloody money grabbers!

I really must get on this as I was thinking,where does the rainwater off my roof go to? Turns out it's all into soakaways in my gardens ,front and back.

Started the Claim Process a couple of weeks ago, water engineer visited our house to do a dye test and inspection yesterday.
We passed, so will get our rebate.
Engineer stated that he was doing more rebate inspections than ever in the past. Only about 1 in 10 passed the test.

on the subject of metered vs unmetered , a colleague at work (unmetered) had a letter from his water company stating he had a leak and to get it fixed or else they would and charge him for it (he thinks they picked it up at night with a listening device).His water pipe is lead and after digging up his drive found it looked like it was done when originally put it and was going straight into the drain which was trapping it-house is 80 years old.

for a single house converted to flats it would be better if the landlord takes responsibility. however if they don't then stw will charge each flat separately either on a metered basis or if it's not possible to install water metres then on an assessed meter basis. this is a fixed amount determined by property type. the issue of connection/non-connection to drainage is a separate matter.

other factors determine whether you get one year or six years. the main one is when the property was built. if you live in a property that was built before Thames water took responsibility ie privatisation then you will only get one year rebate.

We have a tank under the ground (bit like a well) with a man hole cover in our back garden which collects rainwater. The water for flushing toilets and that used from the outside tap comes directly from here. Would that qualify us for the rebate? I've read the articals in the links and am still none the wiser as to if ours is a soak away. So I'm hoping a more knowledgable person can advise.

We have a tank under the ground (bit like a well) with a man hole cover in our back garden which collects rainwater. The water for flushing toilets and that used from the outside tap comes directly from here. Would that qualify us for the rebate? I've read the articals in the links and am still none the wiser as to if ours is a soak away. So I'm hoping a more knowledgable person can advise.

When full where does the excess water go? Most soakaways would overflow into the garden. As long as your tank does the same then I don't see why it wouldn't qualify.

Don't tell them if you have a swimming pool though.

I wish there was a button for me to award this "most helpful comment of the year".

Thanks OP.

Seven Trent are sending us a cheque for 2 and a half years of surface water charges & bills will be lower from now on.

Thanks Op.

well done to you :-]

Thanks Op. Just received a letter from the water company confirming a reduction of 58% in our bill!

Contacted Thames water and they said they can deduct £25 from next year's bill and no refund for previous years, rude lady on the phone said as our property was built late 90's we can't get refunds and suggested "you can complain if you want". How did others get refund?

Lots of newer builds have soakaways. All our gutters go into one in the garden. I took a look into it once, and it's huge inside. It's like a big cylindrical concrete bunker - there are even ladder steps built into it so you could climb in if you so wished ...

Driveway is gravel so that just soaks into the ground. I think builders have to consider where the water goes a lot more nowadays.

Anyway, we get a rebate from Northumbrian Water, and all we had to do was draw a diagram on a form showing where all the water went and post it off to them. They adjusted the bills, and we're sorted. We pay about £15/m for our water meter. Two adults. Two bed semi.

It's worth ensuring that your toilets all have water saving features too (like half flushes or those hippo bags that displace half the water in the tank so it's equivalent to a half flush). The water companies will send out a water saving pack for free usually. You can even get little diffusers that slot into the spout of your taps that use less water by making it "bubbly" when it comes out.

Ty worth a try x

We phoned up Anglian Water this week and they said they would send out a form to fill in. They said they notified all householders in 2000 as they had no way of knowing who had soakaways.No doubt it wasn't in a major notice, probably part of a bigger leaflet. I was cleaning our 3 "drains which are normal looking drains." I found they were all solid soakaways. I suppose they will get out of it by saying water from the drive drains to the road drains. If we get it they will back date to 2013.

Just got £35 off current years bill and it will be backdated to 2013, so a refund for the previous 3 years also to come off current years bill. Nice one. Also having a water meter has saved £150 a year for nearly 3 years now.