Moving house with South Staffs Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists South Staffs Water's area as the West Midlands, South Staffordshire, South Derbyshire, North Warwickshire and North Worcestershire.
• ✓South Staffs Water: you can give the details of your move up to 30 days ahead. If you are on a meter, it recommends a reading the day before you move; without one, it uses estimated charges.
• ✓South Staffs Water: new customers moving into its area register online, existing customers moving within it are moved to the new address, and landlords can tell it who is responsible for the bill.
• ✓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: South Staffs Water: 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)

• ✓South Staffs Water: if a meter cannot be fitted at a reasonable cost, it offers an assessed charge based on your property type rather than its rateable value, and keeps charging on rateable value if that is lower.
• ✓South Staffs Water: all newly built properties are automatically metered.
• ✓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: South Staffs Water: meters FAQs (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)

• ✓South Staffs Water: whether you opted in or had a meter fitted under its metering programme, once it is installed you move onto metered charges and cannot revert to rateable value.
• ✓South Staffs Water: switching is free, and you are charged on metered charges from the date the meter is fitted.
• ✓South Staffs Water: there is no installation charge where meters are fitted compulsorily, but you cannot revert to unmetered charges once one is installed.
• ✓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: South Staffs Water: meters FAQs (read 13 October 2026); South Staffs Water: switching to a 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)

• ✓South Staffs Water: the Assure tariff is to help customers on a low income or struggling to pay their water charges.
• ✓South Staffs Water: if you are on a low income, WaterSure may limit your charges for water and sewerage services.
• ✓South Staffs Water: if you are having difficulty paying, call 0800 09 30 610, which is free. It also offers payment breaks for anyone temporarily unable to pay.
• ✓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: South Staffs Water: help with paying (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)

• ✓South Staffs Water: you can apply for a meter and submit meter readings through MyAccount.
• ✓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: South Staffs Water: switching to a water meter (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 South Staffs 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.