Hundreds come forward in water bill amnesty

Since last week, more than 350 currently unbilled customers have contacted Thames Water voluntarily

HUNDREDS of people have come forward in the first week of Thames Water's amnesty for unbilled customers.

Last week, the water company took the unprecedented step of announcing a six-week amnesty, during which time unbilled residential customers across London and the Thames Valley are invited to come forward voluntarily to prevent them being charged for their previous water use and to agree to being billed for water and waste water use from now on.

In the first week, more than 350 people who have never received a bill have come forward, while a further 1,200 unbilled customers have already been identified as part of an audit of the Thames Water region.

Their details are now being checked and anyone who turns out to be using water without paying bills will face up to six years of back-charges, unless they come forward before the amnesty ends on March 3.

Thames Water's customer services director, Mike Tempest, said: “We're running this amnesty because, firstly, we want our bills to be as affordable as possible, and the extra income we get from currently unbilled customers will help achieve that.

“And secondly, we need an accurate picture of where our water goes in each parrt of our network: if it's going to customers, we want it to be recorded as such, rather than being unaccounted for.”

If you are a currently unbilled customer but wish to come forward voluntarily, call Thames Water on 0800 072 3628.