If you want to keep your house warm on British winter days and see without using candles, utility bills are an unavoidable expense.

Unless you live in rented accommodation where the landlord includes utility bills in your rent, you will have to pay a bill for water, electricity and probably gas (unless your heating and cooking facilities are all electric).

The first thing to do when you move into your home in the UK is tell the current suppliers you are here, when you got here and what your meter readings are. There are many suppliers of gas and electricity. And for water, there is a different company depending on where you live. So you need to find out which companies supply your home. First, try asking the previous occupier or your landlord, or look on the meters to see if they have a sticker with the supplier’s name. But if you have no luck follow the steps listed below for each utility:

Gas

To find out who supplies your gas, call the National Grid Meter Helpline on 0870 608 1524 (National Grid is the company in charge of piping gas around the UK). They will be able to tell you who your supplier is.

Electricity

To find out who supplies your electricity you need to contact your local electricity distribution company and ask for their ‘Meter Point Administration Service’.

Water

There are 24 different water companies in England and Wales  - which all supply different areas. If you are in Northern Ireland or Scotland, there is only one water company. Once you have found out who supplies your utilities, you need to tell them the date you moved into your home in the UK, and the readings on your meters (you may or may not have a meter for water). It is important that you do this because otherwise you may be charged for power or water that a previous occupier used.

Finding the best deal

There is a lot of competition between different companies trying to beat each other’s prices. So you can often save money by changing to a cheaper supplier. Now that you have informed the correct companies that you are here in the UK, you can think about changing your suppliers to get a better price.

There are various websites which can help you to find the best deal. You simply type in some information about where you live and how much gas or electricity you use and they will provide you with the cheapest company for you! Often, if you use the same company for both electricity and gas you will usually get an extra discount. And it is easier for you because you only have one bill instead of two.

Water

You cannot change who supplies your water. Although in England and Wales there are various different companies, each area has a designated supplier. However, it is sometimes possible to save money by having a meter fitted.

There are two options with your water supply:

1)    You can choose to be charged the standard rate for the area you live in and the size of your house. You will be billed the same amount every 3 months.
2)    You can ask for a water meter - this means you are charged for the water you actually use. This can be a good or a bad thing - if you don’t use much water (if you live alone in the house and only ever use the shower) it will probably save you money. But if you wash your car every day and have a bath every other day, it will probably cost you more.

If you phone your water supplier, they will be able to advise you if you can save money by having a meter installed by looking at the history of your usage.

Paying the bills

You may find that you have a meter for gas or electricity with a card in it. This means that you have to ‘pay as you go’. Just top-up your payment card at any local shop with a Paypoint service (you can find out where the closest place to do this by calling the company on the card).

This way of paying allows you to budget for how much you are spending. The disadvantage is that this is more expensive because you usually pay a higher rate for your electricity or gas – and you have to make sure you can get to the shop to top-up before you run out of credits on your card.

If you have one of these but would prefer to pay your bill normally (explained below), contact your supplier to arrange for a standard meter to be fitted.

Quarterly bills

If you don’t have a pre-pay meter, then you will be sent a bill in the post every quarter (3 months). You can pay this bill at a bank, post office, Paypoint outlet, by sending a cheque in the post, or over the phone with a credit or debit card.

However, if you want to save a bit more money, you can pay by direct debit. This means that the company will take the money direct from your bank account every month.

This is good for several reasons:

- You pay a fixed amount each month rather than a big bill every 3 months. This will help you budget for the cost.
- The energy supplier will calculate the amount by splitting the cost equally over 12 months, based on previous amounts of energy used. So this means it costs the same throughout the year, rather than having huge heating bills in the cold winter months.
- If you pay by direct debit, you will normally get a reduced rate which can save you at least 5% off your bill.

UTILITY BILLS

utility bills = gas, electricity and water bills
shared bills = bills which are divided between you and your flatmates
to pay / settle a bill
direct debit = an instruction to your bank to allow somebody else/a company to take an amount of money from your account on a particular date
standing order = an instruction that you give to your bank to pay someone/a company a fixed amount of money from your account on the same day each week or month
banker’s order = an instruction to your bank to pay money to somebody/a company directly from your bank account
online payment = paying via the Internet
spread the cost = to separate payments into parts which are paid at different times
to run up a massive bill = to use a lot of a service and finish with a very large bill
to pay a bill on time = to pay by the deadline date shown on the bill
the bills are piling up = there are more and more bills which need to be paid
red bill = a bill which has not been paid by the deadline date
final demand = the last bill a company sends to you when you haven’t paid – usually saying that they will start legal proceedings if you don’t pay

Water Idioms
left high and dry = in a difficult situation without help or money
a sea change = a strong and noticeable change in a situation
make waves = to be very active in a way that makes people notice you, and that may sometimes cause problems
the tide is turning = there is a change in someone’s luck or how successful they are being
a drop in the ocean = an amount of something that is too small or unimportant to make any real difference to a situation
a wave of protests = a sudden increase in protests
all at sea = confused and not knowing what to do
come hell or high water = despite any difficulties