Moving house with Portsmouth Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists Portsmouth Water's area as Portsmouth and surrounding areas.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: its change of address or new customer form asks for your previous address and the date you left, your new address and the date you moved in, final and first meter readings if there is a meter, the number of bedrooms and occupants, and whether you rent.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: moves more than 14 days ahead are processed nearer the move date, and it contacts you only if it has questions.
• ✓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: Portsmouth Water: change of address or new customer (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)

• ✓Portsmouth Water: if it has told you that you are moving to metering, for the first 12 months it automatically charges whichever is lower, the charges with or without a meter, and shows a comparison on each bill.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: metered bills come every six months, based on how much water you use, and your wastewater company, usually Southern Water, also bases its bills on your readings.
• ✓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: Portsmouth Water: moving to metering (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)

• ✓Portsmouth Water: asked whether you have to have a meter, it answers yes.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: it is bringing smart water meters to all the homes it supplies by 2035.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: the Lowest Bill Promise ends 12 months after you receive your final closing bill, and it keeps in touch during that period so you know when metered billing starts.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: if you are on WaterSure or its Helping Hand social tariff, you already pay the lowest charge.
• ✓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: Portsmouth Water: moving to metering (read 13 October 2026); Portsmouth Water: water meter application (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)

• ✓Portsmouth Water: Helping Hand is a lower cost tariff for households with an income of £22,020 or under. If your application succeeds, your water bill is capped at its minimum charge for the year.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: WaterSure caps the bill at the average metered bill amount, £162.82 from 1 April 2026.
• ✓Portsmouth Water: Arrears Assist can help if you owe £300 or more and have not been able to make regular payments, and you can apply for a payment holiday of up to six months.
• ✓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: Portsmouth Water: help with my bills (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)

• ✓Portsmouth Water: billing and account enquiries are answered Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. For water meter enquiries call 023 9249 9666, and its 24-hour Freephone leak line is 0800 434 6104.
• ✓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: Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth 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.