Moving house with Thames Water: register, meters and help

• ✓CCW lists Thames Water's area as London and the Thames Valley.
• ✓Thames Water: the easiest way to tell it about a move is through your online account. If you are moving into its area, you tell it by setting up an online account.
• ✓Thames Water: you can tell it about your move as early as 28 days before your move date. Have your new address, the date you are moving, an email address and a mobile number ready. Bank details are optional, for a Direct Debit.
• ✓Thames Water: as a property owner or tenant, you are responsible for the water charges at your property. If your new home is empty, it asks you to contact it to discuss the account.
• ✓Thames Water: landlords tell it about tenants and properties through Landlord TAP.
• ✓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: Thames Water: moving home (read 13 October 2026); Thames Water: I'm a 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)

• ✓Thames Water: for each £1 of your property's rateable value, it charges a rate for clean water and wastewater. The rates vary by charging area, and the rateable value for your property is on your bill.
• ✓Thames Water publishes typical metered bills for 2026-27 by household size. For one person with low use it gives £261 a year, for two people with medium use £619, and for four people with medium use £891.
• ✓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: Thames Water: rateable value charge (read 13 October 2026); Thames Water: installing meters in our region (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)

• ✓Thames Water: applying for a water meter is free. You can apply if you are the bill payer, or rent your home with a tenancy of six months or more, and it aims to fit the meter within 50 days of your request.
• ✓Thames Water: it is fitting free meters for all customers as part of its metering programme, because its region is classified as seriously water-stressed. The Water Industry Act 1991 enables it to meter properties in water-stressed areas.
• ✓Thames Water: once a meter is activated, a one-year comparison period starts. After one year, if you have not already switched, it moves you onto metered bills. If metered bills look cheaper sooner, you can switch early and it credits the savings from the activation date.
• ✓Thames Water: if it cannot fit a meter, it puts you on its assessed household 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: Thames Water: request a water meter (read 13 October 2026); Thames Water: installing meters in our region (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)

• ✓Thames Water: if your annual bill is more than 5% of your net income, you may be eligible for WaterHelp, depending also on the number of occupants. It currently offers a discount of between 25% and 99%, applied from the date of application.
• ✓Thames Water: apply for WaterHelp through an online income and expenditure form, or on 0800 980 8800. It says it will be in touch within 20 working days.
• ✓Thames Water: if you are on a meter and use a larger amount of water because you have a big family or a water-dependent medical condition, it may be able to cap your bills through WaterSure.
• ✓Thames Water also lists a temporary payment plan, Water Direct for customers falling behind, and a Customer Assistance Fund that matches what you pay towards water debt.
• ✓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: Thames Water: WaterHelp (read 13 October 2026); Thames 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)

• ✓Thames Water: its contact page routes you by topic, and its moving home page offers WhatsApp messaging alongside the online account.
• ✓Thames Water: to discuss financial support, call 0800 980 8800.
• ✓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: Thames Water: contact us (read 13 October 2026); Thames Water: moving home (read 13 October 2026); Thames Water: WaterHelp (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 Thames 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.