Domestic customers
Most domestic customers receive and pay for four services:
•supply of drinking water; and
•removal and treatment of sewage; and
•removal and treatment of surface drainage from private areas such as roofs and car parks; and
•removal and treatment of surface drainage from public areas such as roads.
Household water and sewerage charges are billed by local authorities for Scottish Water, and collected with council tax. Bills are issued annually and the amounts are listed separately. This joint billing and collection system enables water and sewerage bills to be linked to the council tax banding system and some council tax discounts also apply to water and sewerage charges.
The amounts payable by council tax band are available on Scottish Water’s website.1 Most domestic water supplies in Scotland are non-metered. However, clients can have a water meter installed if they wish to pay for how much water they use. Domestic customers with water meters are directly billed by Scottish Water rather than by their local authority.
Some domestic properties have a private supply from Scottish Water that can be metered – eg, where the client permanently lives in a mobile home, charges are usually paid to the site.
If properties are exempt from council tax, there may still be a charge for water and sewerage.
Households that receive council tax reduction (CTR) automatically receive a reduction from their water and sewerage bill through the water charges reduction scheme. This is up to a maximum of 35 per cent from 1 April 2021. So, even if your client receives 100 per cent CTR, they still need to pay 65 per cent of the water and sewerage charges.2 Households with no occupants liable to pay council tax (eg, properties fully occupied by full-time students) are exempt from paying water and sewerage charges.
Many clients might believe that if they have a discount or CTR they do not have to pay for water, this is not the case.
Properties with a private septic tank are not liable for sewerage charges, just water.
Scottish Water has a Priority Services Register for people with additional requirements – eg, those with a disability or long-term illness, looking after very young children or who require water for medication. For details, see .
Non-payment of water charges
If a client has not paid the water and sewerage part of their council tax bill, local authorities can begin recovery procedures.
Clients receiving certain benefits can have deductions made from their benefit to pay off their water debt. This is sometimes called ‘Water Direct’ or the DWP’s ‘third-party deduction’ system. If a local authority uses the scheme, it can deduct two payments from your client’s benefit, one to recover water and sewerage arrears, and one to cover current charges so they do not build up further arrears.
A fixed amount is deducted from benefit until the arrears are cleared. Deductions can be made from:3gov.uk/bills-benefits •universal credit;
•income support;
•income-based and contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance;
•income-related and contributory employment and support allowance;
•pension credit.
Local authorities do not need permission to take deductions up to 25 per cent of a client’s benefits. For amounts over 25 per cent, the client must approve the deduction.
Summary warrant
The local authority can also use the summary warrant procedure to collect water debts. See Chapter 7 for more information about summary warrants. Disconnection
Disconnection from the public water supply is not generally allowed for domestic customers in Scotland, only for non-domestic customers.
Complaints and redress
In the first instance, complaints should be addressed to Scottish Water.
If your client is still not satisfied, they can take it further by contacting Citizens Advice Scotland (tel: 0800 028 1456).
Ombudsman
If your client has completed the stages of Scottish Water’s complaints process and the complaint remains unresolved, it can be escalted to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).4s16A Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 The SPSO independently and impartially investigate complaints. A complaint can be started at .