Helpfully, the guidance offers a range of billing options, including a new ‘pay as you go’ scheme introduced on 1 November 2018. This offers farmers the opportunity to choose their own billing period (between 30 and 90 days) and to choose either to submit their own meter reading, ask Castle Water to take a reading (a charge will apply if a reading is not otherwise scheduled), or receive a bill based on an estimate.
Alternatively, six-monthly billing, with bills sent and payable mid-way through a six-month billing period is one of the other options available.
Publication of the Castle Water guidance note follows a recent NFU meeting with the retailer where members raised a range of billing issues being experienced across the south of England. Read about this meeting here.
The NFU is pleased that Castle Water has responded quickly and constructively to our representations by clarifying how billing processes should work, and what farmers should do when things go wrong.
The NFU will be meeting Castle Water again in mid-November to review progress with billing issues.
We are therefore seeking comments from members on this important step forward taken by Castle Water. Members with a feedback on the Castle Water guidance note and/or how well it is working in practice should write to c291dGguZWFzdEBuZnUub3JnLnVr