Important changes to drainage service charges
Monday 21 April, 2008
United Utilities have changed the way they charge for drainage services, how does this affect you? It is important that you take a look at what you are being charged now!
United Utilities (UU) is introducing a new way of charging non-household customers for surface water and highway drainage. Often referred to as 'site area' charging, UU made the decision last year to change the way they charge businesses to drain and remove surface water from their premises and the highway.
UU is the fourth sewerage undertaker to move to this method of charging, which is the method preferred by the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) - the industry regulator.
Currently this change only affects 'non household' properties receiving a water supply through a meter. Households are unaffected and businesses without meters.
Previously the charge was based on the rateable value of your property.
From 01 April 2008, UU has started to phase in the new charge. Part of the charges will be based on the drained area occupied by any existing business and part will be based on the previous method. The phasing will continue until 2010 when charges will be based wholly on the area drained.
• The new method takes into account the 'floor area' of your property and the external drained area of your site.
• The charge covers removal and treatment of surface water from your business premises, including water draining from roofs and other hard standing areas.
• The other element of the payment covers highway drainage, again where water from your premises is drained from the highway by United Utilities sewerage network.
There has not been an opportunity for the NFU to oppose this change, although this is the method of charging preferred by the regulator. There are no plans to review this change despite our requests.
We strongly recommend that you take time to review your charge now. United Utilities wrote to all affected customers, from July 2007, and included was a diagram of the customer's site/property.
More details about these changes can be found by accessing UU's website : www.unitedutilities.com/sitearea
United Utilities have drawn a red line around the boundary of each property and subtracted from their calculation any grass areas, forests and woodland, cultivated land and public highways where they fall within the boundary of the site. The area remaining is what your charge is based on. Be aware that for this year 2008/09 only a third of your charges are based on site area, the remaining two thirds is based on the old method.
You are advised to contact United Utilities within three months of receiving your first bill. The billing process started on 08 February 2008.
UU have used a number of information sources to calculate the chargeable area of properties within its region. Inevitably there may be changes that they are not aware of and it is possible that a slurry lagoon, land draining to field ditches etc that are not marked on the OS map can be removed and the chargeable area reduced which may lead to a reduction in charges.
