When Brenda Bird opened her water bill in January she knew instantly there must be a mistake.
asserted
she → open → January
Her six-month charge was more than four times the £100 she usually paid.
asserted
she → pay → ?
The 83-year-old, who has lived in the same home in Margate, Kent, for 45 years, pays Southern Water by cheque twice a year.
asserted
who → live → cheque
When she queried the £403 bill, Brenda was told she must have used more water than usual, an accusation she firmly denies.
asserted
she → query → accusation
The great-grandmother has since resorted to recycling every drop she can to cut down her usage – but she says Southern Water continued to slap her with these large bills.
asserted
Water → resort → bills
And Brenda is not alone when it comes to shocking water costs.
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it → come → costs
Money Mail has received dozens of cases in recent weeks from readers who have faced unhelpful customer service staff, received baffling letters and had inconsistent bills.
asserted
who → receive → bills
Brenda Bird's water bill more than quadrupled from £100 to £403 after Southern Water replaced the stopcocks on her meter
Some say water companies have attempted to switch their billing to direct debit without consent, while others say they have been automatically placed on more regular, monthly billing – a sneaky tactic we have recently revealed at Thames Water.
asserted
we → quadruple → Water
She had a water meter fitted in 2011 and paid around £100 every six months, for using roughly the same amount.
asserted
meter → have → amount
But when Southern Water replaced the stopcocks on her meter in August 2025, everything changed.
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everything → replace → August
Brenda’s ordeal began when she opened that bi-annual bill in January, just one month after losing her husband.
asserted
she → begin → husband
‘I couldn’t work it out, it didn’t make sense,’ she says.
asserted
she → work → sense
As a now single-person household, Brenda did not think her bills should be so high.
asserted
bills → think → household
She contacted Southern Water, telling them she could not pay, insisting they investigate the issue.
uncertain
they → contact → issue
A Southern Water engineer visited her home and told Brenda there was no leak or seepage on her side, so she showed him her previous bills alongside the new one.
asserted
she → visit → one
‘He agreed there was something drastically wrong,’ she says.
asserted
she → agree → ?
The engineer told her he would report back but Brenda says the problem was not resolved.
asserted
problem → tell → her
In February, she received a letter saying Southern Water had been unable to take a direct debit from her bank account.
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Water → receive → account
‘I have never used or agreed to direct debit,’ she wrote back.
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she → use → debit
Brenda received dozens of bills over the next few months, for various amounts.
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Brenda → receive → amounts
She paid £300 in the hope the problem would go away but was shocked when another bill arrived in July, showing her recorded water use had risen again.
asserted
use → pay → July
Fearing more excessive bills, Brenda has taken to lugging buckets of recycled water around her home to save money.
asserted
Brenda → fear → money
She collects cold water while waiting for the shower or taps to heat up, which she then reuses in the garden.
asserted
she → collect → garden
She has three water butts, with watering cans beneath outside downpipes.
asserted
She → have → downpipes
‘Every drop of water I could possibly scrounge is collected and reused,’ she said.
uncertain
she → scrounge → water
‘Very little goes down the drain without having been used more than once.
asserted
little → go → drain
‘I don’t understand how I can use more water when I’m doing my damnedest.’
asserted
I → understand → damnedest
After writing to Southern Water’s chief executive, Brenda says she received a response telling her an engineer had ‘fixed a leak’ and that a small leakage allowance had been applied.
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allowance → write → leak
She says: ‘It’s not the money.
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It → say → ?
It’s the principle of it – the amount they’re saying I am using, which I am not.
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I → ’ → it
‘I can’t live like this.
asserted
I → live → this
I want them to read the meter and give me a proper explanation of what’s going on.’
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what → want → explanation
She adds: ‘It has made trying to grieve absolutely impossible, because I dread every time the post comes.’
asserted
post → add → time
A Southern Water spokesman said: ‘We apologise for the complications this customer has encountered in trying to settle her account and are looking at how we can improve our processes.
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we → say → processes
‘Our teams have contacted her to provide an update and have credited her account with a goodwill payment, by way of apology.’
asserted
teams → contact → apology
Readers say water firms have been attempting to switch their billing to direct debit without consent
Charged monthly after 56 years
For more than half a century, Brian Vayro has paid his Severn Trent water bill every six months.
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Vayro → say → bill
And the 78-year-old has lived in the same four-bedroom property in Heage, Derbyshire, with his wife for the past 15 years and says he has never missed a payment.
asserted
he → live → payment
When his most recent six-monthly bill arrived in July 2026, for £277.31, he noticed it only covered just over five months, from February 3 to July 21.
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it → arrive → July
He paid it immediately and thought little more of it.
asserted
He → pay → it
Then, on August 23, another bill landed.
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bill → land → August
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
