Moving house with Bristol Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists Bristol Water's area as Bristol and surrounding areas.
• ✓Bristol Water: to tell it about your move you need your old address and the date you moved out, and your new address and the date you moved in. Your customer number, at the top of your bill, also helps.
• ✓Bristol Water: if you are on a water meter, take a reading on the day of your move before you submit the form. If you cannot read the meter, tell it at least five working days before your moving date and it will arrange a reading.
• ✓Bristol Water: it provides your drinking water, and Wessex Water provides wastewater services for the region. Bristol Water tells Wessex Water about your move, so you do not need to contact them.
• ✓Ofwat: under the current legislation, household customers are not able to change their water supplier or sewerage service provider. The company that supplies your property depends on where you live.

Sources: Bristol Water: I'm moving home (read 13 October 2026); CCW: find your water company (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what if I move to a property with a meter? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: changing supplier (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Bristol Water: unmetered customers pay a rateable value unit rate, and standing charges differ between metered and unmetered customers.
• ✓Bristol Water: if you do not provide a meter reading when you move, your final bill is based on an estimated reading.
• ✓Ofwat: if you do not have a water meter, your bill is not based on how much water you use. It is usually a fixed charge plus a charge based on the rateable value of your home, a valuation last updated in 1990.
• ✓CCW: if your new home already has a water meter, you must pay metered charges based on your usage and you cannot switch to an unmetered bill. Take a reading as soon as you move in.
• ✓CCW: a water company can install a meter when you move in, but not if you have already received an unmetered bill for that property. It tells you when you report the move.
• ✓Ofwat: you may receive your water supply from one company and your sewerage services from another, which means you may get two separate bills.

Sources: Bristol Water: make the most of your water meter (read 13 October 2026); Bristol Water: I'm moving home (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: unmetered customers (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what if I move to a property with a meter? (read 13 October 2026); CCW: can my water company install a meter before I move in? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: your water company (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Bristol Water: it is free to switch to a water meter, and if you do not save money within the first two years you can switch back for free. Installation takes up to 56 days.
• ✓Bristol Water: you can change back to unmetered charges if you tell it before you have been billed for two years on the metered charge. You cannot after a change of occupier, if the property is no longer mainly a home, if you water the garden with anything other than a handheld device such as a sprinkler, or if you automatically fill a pool, pond or lake holding over 10,000 litres.
• ✓Bristol Water: switching back excludes customers who were moved onto a meter automatically because they moved house.
• ✓Ofwat: household customers in England and Wales can choose to have a meter fitted in their homes free of charge. If a meter cannot be fitted, the company must offer an assessed charge instead.
• ✓Ofwat: in England, where the company is legally obliged to act on your request, it must begin measuring your supply within eight weeks of the day you ask.
• ✓CCW: you can usually switch back to the unmetered charge within two years if you are unhappy with the change, except for customers in areas of England where compulsory metering is introduced. Where the company publishes its own rule, as above, that is the one to go by.
• ✓CCW: you can ask for a water meter to be fitted if you rent your home in England.

Sources: Bristol Water: water meters, your rights (read 13 October 2026); Bristol Water: make the most of your water meter (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: metered customers and applying for metered charges (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: assessed charges (read 13 October 2026); CCW: should I get a water meter fitted? (read 13 October 2026); CCW: can I ask for a water meter if I rent my home? (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Bristol Water: it can help if you are on a low income or benefits, receive Pension Credit or the State Pension, are in debt, or have had a change in financial situation or short-term hardship.
• ✓Bristol Water: its schemes include Assist to reduce your bill, a low-income pensioner discount, a bill cap scheme, Restart for debt, Water Direct, flexible payment plans and payment breaks.
• ✓Bristol Water: get help by calling 0345 600 3600 or completing its enquiry form.
• ✓CCW: every water company has a social tariff scheme which can help reduce your bills if you are on a low income, and who is eligible and the level of support varies depending on your water company.
• ✓CCW: WaterSure caps the water and sewerage bill of customers on a water meter who receive an income-related benefit and either get child benefit for three or more children under 19 or use extra water because of a medical condition.
• ✓GOV.UK: a WaterSure reform is set to come into force in early 2027. People on disability benefits become eligible where household income is below £25,745 a year, the cap moves to the lowest possible average bill, and the paid-for doctor's note goes. Scheduled, not yet in force.

Sources: Bristol Water: help with paying your bill (read 13 October 2026); CCW: help with bills (read 13 October 2026); CCW: what is WaterSure? (read 13 October 2026); GOV.UK: reduced bills for around 300,000 households in WaterSure reform (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Bristol Water: its contact page has enquiry routes for bills and accounts, moving home, water supply and leaks, a finder for your wastewater provider, and British Sign Language support through Convo.
• ✓CCW: the homeowner is responsible for maintaining the water pipes on private property up to the boundary of the road. The water main, the connection up to your boundary, the outside stop tap and the meter are the company's.
• ✓Ofwat: companies are required by their licences to reimburse the cost of water lost through leakage by way of credits to your bill, a leakage allowance that can apply to water and wastewater charges. You can only claim once the leak has been repaired, and it can be refused if you did not arrange the repair within the company's timeframe.
• ✓CCW: complain to the company first and give it a chance to put things right. If it does not reply within 10 working days you may be entitled to a Guaranteed Standards Scheme payment. CCW can take the complaint on once you have a final response or have waited eight weeks, and its service is free.

Sources: Bristol Water: contact us (read 13 October 2026); CCW: who is responsible for my water pipes? (read 13 October 2026); Ofwat: metered customers and applying for metered charges (read 13 October 2026); CCW: make a complaint (read 13 October 2026)

• ✓Taupia keeps the Bristol Water account next to your energy, broadband and mobile: what it costs, when it is due, and each housemate's share on the rule your household sets.
• ✓For energy, broadband and mobile, Taupia compares your tariff against the market and lines up a switch when one is worth it. Water is monitored only, because it cannot be switched.
• ✓Taupia is free. You pay the water company directly, as you always have, and nothing changes without your approval.