Martin Lewis has revealed an ingenious way to beat a steep rise in water bills.
The bills are going up by 7.5% on April 1, but the money saving expert explained on his ITV show how installing a water meter could save you hundreds.
Households can opt for a two-year trial and one woman called Debra did this and managed to save £400 in a year.
She said: ‘Took your advice on water bills. Last year we paid £717 so we opted for the two-year trial to have a meter.
‘Chuffed to bits with our first bill of £121, with an average saving of £400. We have since shared this with our family and friends and three have changed to water meters as well.’
Mr Lewis was thrilled to hear this and said: ‘I presume that is a six monthly bill at £121 so it’s £242 over the year, but these are substantial savings.’
Households have two years to change back if they find a money-saving meter doesn’t work for them.
Mr Lewis said most water companies offer free meters and urged households to take advantage of them.
Using the example of two people living in a three-bedroom house, he said: ‘So water bills are based on the ratable value, which is a proxy for the house value, so be a big bill, but we use less, you know I don’t use much water and I don’t have much coming out of the other end.
‘So we would likely save on a water meter.’
Mr Lewis advised using the consumer council’s water calculator and asking for an assessed charge if the water company cannot fit the meter.
He said: ‘[This] will tell you roughly what you would pay on a water meter if you did have one and if that is cheaper you could just pay the lower amount.’
His advice for those struggling on benefits, have disabilities, or medical conditions is to speak with their water firm to see if they can be swapped to a cheaper tariff if they use lots of hot water for showers and baths.
‘And finally there are over one million free water-saving gadgets,’ he said.
‘It’s postcode dependent some people get them some people don’t.
‘Savewatersavemoney.co.uk, which you can get totally for free from your water firm, cuts water and it cuts your energy use too, because remember much of the water that we use is heated.’
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