Water Bill

[Adobill<P><FONT face=Arial>Bill <FONT><P><P><FONT face=Arial>Charente Maritime (17) & Northampton<FONT><P>]

Hi

I'm looking for advice please. We have just received our annual water bill sent to our address in England - this will probably have been our third water bill over the years and I have previously paid by cheque with no problems. I have just written the cheque and notice as I come to put it in the envelope that it states on the back of the envelope that it (the envelope) is to be used only for payment by TIP and neither cheques nor correspondence should be sent.

I'm now not sure what to do - I can't recall seeing this information stated on previous envelopes to the water company and have always paid all bills by cheque with no problem. In order to pay by TIP what would I need to do - I'm assuming it's like Direct Debit, in which case how will the water company know my bank details etc if I haven't ever set something up before?

Advise very gratefully received! Many thanks

Vee

[opas]

have a look at the tear off bill slip at the bottom....there should be a space there for you to enter your account details, or you can photocopy the slip details from the front of your chequebook or if you manage your bank acc on line you can print slips  and enclose it with the tear off bill, this is your RIB, you will then just receive a bill in future with all your details already on it and you will just need to sign and date it on the tear off slip.....hope that was as clear as mud!

Mrs O

[Teamedup]

Just send them a cheque. I have never ever used the TIP system and have no intention of doing so.

[Alexis]

Can I ask you why you only get one bill when I get two?  One for January and the other for July.

July is estimated but the January one is after the meter has been read.

[Tourangelle]

Oddly enough water is not national, there are at least two companies and it depends where you live so perhaps that is why.

If you sign a TIP it is not the same as a direct debit as you actually have to sign it for them to be able to withdraw the money. I know this because I have dozily sent them back unsigned in the past!! A TIP is more like a cheque than a direct debit, but without you actually having to write a cheque.

[Teamedup]

Alexis, I wish we only got one bill these days. The interim bill is always 3/4's of the main bill so in effect we are paying up in advance. We have only had two payments to make for about 2 years.

[Adobill<P><FONT face=Arial>Bill <FONT><P><P><FONT face=Arial>Charente Maritime (17) & Northampton<FONT><P>]

Thanks all for your replies - I've no idea why we only get one bill per year. As I've always paid by cheque in the past I looked back through cheque stubs and the last bill we paid was in June 2004. However, this year's bill is much higher than last year's but I suppose as the house was occupied from June to September that would explain the increase. Under the column "periode ou cumul" it states 010105/311205 - perhaps 1st Jan 05 to 31 Dec 05. We are in Charente Maritime.

Once again, many thanks for your quick replies - I'll get the bill off in the post now. Vee