The many ways Advizzo can help unmetered households
Believe it or not, water meters have been around since the mid eighteenth century1. Today they are a common feature in many homes across the UK and any new properties built since 1991 have had water meters installed at the time of construction. However, there are still plenty of homes that don’t have a water meter and are therefore not receiving accurate water bills. The good news is, Advizzo has a solution that will help water suppliers gain a far more accurate estimate of unmetered household’s water consumption.
Smart water meter rollout across the UK is well underway, but many homes are still without. That’s down to a combination of factors including the progress of the water meter roll-out, personal choice or because the property simply can’t be metered – it’s in a block of flats or converted building where the water supply is partly or wholly shared or there’s insufficient space to install a meter.
Water meters are the fairest way to charge for water usage. On a meter, customers only pay for the water they use, rather than a guesstimated amount. Customers who are not on a water meter are billed using the Rateable Value (RV) of their property to calculate the cost for the year in advance. RV is a pretty old-fashioned way of working out the water bill. The last time the RV was updated was in 19902! That means any changes to the property since then will not be reflected in the RV.
So, if the house has undergone alterations or the number of occupants has grown or shrunk, the water usage will have changed, meaning the customer could be paying less or more than what they use.
Give unmetered water customers a more accurate bill
With the help of a two minute home survey, Advizzo can ensure that unmetered customers get a fairer bill (or assessed household charge). We also work with utility companies across the globe – to help engage customers – delivering messages, tips and advice to help inform decisions and encourage more sustainable behaviors. Read more about our flexible home audit solution in our blog Upping the ante on utility marketing.
It’s time for water suppliers to put our powers to good use to help gain a more detailed, recent and accurate understanding of each unmetered household and therefore more accurate calculation of their water usage. This also helps water suppliers forecast future water demand better.
By getting customers to complete our short survey we obtain and process more detailed information relating to each property, including how many people live at the property; how many rooms there are; how many toilets, showers and baths it has; how frequently they are used; what water consuming appliances are installed; whether the property has a garden and what they use water for in the garden; whether they wash their cars at home etc.
We can then provide the supplier with a detailed understanding of individual unmetered addresses, so that they can provide more accurate water bills. The survey data also gives us all the information we need to activate our behavioral science based engagement program to deliver personalized insights and tips to help individual households take steps from a personalized action plan to reduce their water consumption – something of a priority given the race to net zero and the impending water crisis!
Additional benefits
We can also use the audit to help identify potentially vulnerable customers who may need additional financial support measures. You can read more about this in our providing proactive support for vulnerable customers blog.
Additionally, we can use the data we collect to assess which unmetered properties could potentially accommodate a smart meter and encourage the home-owner to adopt a smart meter with personalised educational messages, insights and advice. We’ve written a blog on that subject too. Why not discover how behavioural science can support smart meter deployment?
The good news is, research from our friends at Waterwise has found encouraging signs that the public is receptive to smart water metering. Nine in ten already have smart technology in their home and 87% would consider getting a smart water meter if it would lead to a reduction in bills and was fitted for free3.
Let us help you create meaningful next steps for unmetered customers, whether that’s delivering more accurate billing, encouraging smart meter adoption, offering support or providing tips to help them reduce water consumption. This can also help with decision making and planning for future regulatory changes such as PR24 in the UK.
Energy suppliers can also use this solution to help customers drive more sustainable energy consumption behaviors. In 2022, one of our clients saw that almost 50% of online customers chose to complete a survey. With the additional data our client could enrich its analytics portal with very precise customer intelligence. Our audits are proven to be a very cost-effective way of assessing usage without having to bear the cost of installing and maintaining sub-meters.
Discover how our home audit service can help you increase engagement with unmetered customers and deliver more accurate billing. Get in touch today!
Source ref
1https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283045689
2https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/your-water-bill/unmetered/
3https://www.arqiva.com/21586.002