Moving house with Northumbrian Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists Northumbrian Water's area as North East England.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: you do not need to tell it you are moving if you pay your water bill with your rent to your landlord.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: its new customer form asks for your name, date of birth, phone number and email address, and you can add another person over 16 to share responsibility for the account.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: its moving day checklist says to tell it you have moved, create an online account and give it a meter reading.
• ✓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: Northumbrian Water: moving home, new customer form (read 13 October 2026); Northumbrian Water: moving day checklist (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)

• ✓Northumbrian Water: with a meter you only pay for the water you use, not your home's rateable value, and you receive bills every six months instead of once a year.
• ✓Northumbrian Water's meter terms: if a previous occupier had a meter fitted, the next occupant moves directly onto measured bills without the option to switch back.
• ✓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.

Sources: Northumbrian Water: apply for a water meter (read 13 October 2026); Northumbrian Water: meter option installation terms and conditions (November 2025) (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)

• ✓Northumbrian Water: a meter is free to install as long as it can be fitted in its preferred location.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: from 1 October 2025 it aims to fit your meter within 56 days. If it takes longer, it adjusts your bill to sewerage charges only from day 57 until the meter is installed.
• ✓Northumbrian Water's meter terms: if measured charges are not working for your household, you have up to two years to switch back to unmeasured billing. The meter is not removed, and if you move out or sell, the next occupant moves directly onto measured bills.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: if you rent and pay your water bill directly to it, you do not need your landlord's permission for a meter, citing the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Your tenancy agreement may still require permission for alterations, and it suggests Citizens Advice if your landlord objects.
• ✓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: Northumbrian Water: apply for a water meter (read 13 October 2026); Northumbrian Water: meter option installation terms and conditions (November 2025) (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)

• ✓Northumbrian Water: if your household income is less than £30,000, or you receive Pension Credit, it may be able to reduce your bill by up to 50%.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: if you do not have enough money coming in to cover your most important bills, it may be able to lower your payments by up to 50%.
• ✓Northumbrian Water: if you have a water meter and receive income-related benefits, it may be able to cap your water bill through WaterSure.
• ✓Northumbrian Water also offers flexible payment plans, payment breaks and Water Direct, which takes payments from your benefits.
• ✓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: Northumbrian Water: financial support (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)

• ✓Northumbrian Water: its contact page asks what you need help with, then gives the right information and the way to get in touch.
• ✓Northumbrian Water lists an application for a leak allowance on its leaks pages.
• ✓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: Northumbrian Water: contact us (read 13 October 2026); Northumbrian Water: apply for a leak allowance (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 Northumbrian 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.