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Change water supplier in Scotland – Switch water supplier it’s simple!
Author: Graham Mann, Water Audit Expert.
Last year we helped many business customer change water supplier, we negotiated excellent deals and put together a quite unique end to end water management service which not only applies discounts to the water and waste water charges going forwards but also through a historical audit, refunds and savings were identified prior to the transfer to a new water supplier.
How the Scottish Water retail market works: –
The Scottish Water market operates in much the same way as other utilities, various water retail licenced providers compete for new customers by offering enhanced discounts on water charges and many are starting to offer added value services such as water data logging and monitoring of water use. However in our experience the added value services are very limited as there is of course no incentive to reduce income levels! Water retail suppliers buy wholesale water services from Scottish Water which is the physical suppler of water and waste water removal and treatment services. The water retailer then packages up the services and offers discounts and sometimes further added value services direct to customers or their water audit expert agents.
The wholesaler Scottish Water retains ownership and control of the publicly owned network of water supply pipes, foul and surface water discharge pipes and treatment facilities.
Are your water and waste water service protected?
Yes, the safety net which protects all customers is an organisation called ” Water Industry Commission for Scotland” (W.I.C.S) which publishes a set of “default tariffs” these tariffs are the maximum price water retail suppliers can charge for the default standard level of service and the charges are no more than the maximum charge that customers would have paid to Scottish Water.
How could your business benefit?
* Lower water and waste water bills, discounts on existing water charges.
* An opportunity to complete water audits to ensure any previous water company overcharges are rectified going forwards – refunds are collected.
* Implementation of water saving opportunities.
* On-going monitoring of water bills through water bill validation and proactive water cost reduction, accurate water bills lower costs.
What discounts can I expect?
Well much depends on the amount of margin available which varies according to your water consumption profiles and your existing billing structure. Our water retail division has secured deals between 10% – 18%. Having said that if your include added value services provided by your appointed water audit experts such as the historical water audits prior to switching water supplier and on the on-going water bill validation then in real terms the deal is considerably higher. These more valuable deal sweeteners are only offered through a water bill consultancy as are any historical water audits.
Over what period should I contract with a new water supplier?
No more than 2 years, in fact expiry date should be March 31st 2017 which is the date when the English Water Retail Market opens up leaving your options open to take advantage of better deals that may be on offer.
Top tip: To ensure you maximise all water saving opportunities secure the best value deal and to correct all historical over charging appoint a water audit expert, but don’t go down the % share of savings route you will pay more then you need. Google search Water audit expert – The water audit experts – Water bill consultancy – Water bill consultants.