A website is up and running for landlords to provide voluntarily basic contact information about their tenants so water companies can register them for billing and tackle this major source of water debt.
Customer debt currently adds £15 on to everyone's water bill. By far the biggest source of bad debt comes from tenants of rented properties who leave before settling their water bill.
Unlike other sectors, water companies have no contracts with their consumers because they supply water on a statutory basis and consumers are not obliged to inform their water company when they move in or out of a property.
Water UK says to make a real difference to the cost of bad debt, water companies need information on all their customers, not just some of them. It is calling for the provision of information by landlords to be made mandatory and cover all rented properties, whether in the private or social sector or for smaller or larger enterprises.
The Welsh Government recently made it mandatory for landlords to provide tenants' details to water companies.
Landlords can enter tenants’ details online at the Landlord and Tenant Address Portal.
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Comments
Our website www.newoccupier.com inform all utility companies (gas, electric & water) and also the local council for council tax, in one simple form. This is a free to use service, helping you save time in administration from phoning separate suppliers, repeating the same distance.
New occupiers are normally put on a standard tariff for gas and electricity - usually the most expensive - automatically. We carry out a price comparison and forward the results direct to their email. Savings of £250-£500 can be made dependent upon the size of the property.
We save the landlord time and the tenant money.