The new owner of the property is responsible for paying the water and sewerage account when the next bill is issued. Any outstanding balance after a change of ownership will become the responsibility of the new property owner, as any debt remains with the land, not with the customer.
IMPORTANT
We have changed how we bill accounts in Somerset and Lockyer Valley to make it simpler for customers to:
- track water usage,
- sooner detect leaks on their property, and
- manage their water and sewerage budgets.
For the April-June 2019 quarter, the change* involves:
- the introduction of a new, simpler meter reading and billing schedule, and
- switching service charges from advance to arrears, to align with water usage charges.
Currently, water and sewerage bills are issued up to seven weeks after water meter readings, meaning leaks can go unnoticed for long periods of time wasting water and money.
After the change*, this will be closer to seven days.
For solicitors and customers looking to calculate property settlement figures, the change also means a new way to calculate a Water Cost Estimate*.
Under the old way of billing, water and sewerage service charges were fixed, i.e. Tuesday 01 January 2019-Saturday 31 March 2019; however, under the new, simpler way, this is no longer the case.
Simpler Billing means service charge periods now start from the same date as the last meter reading date.
To calculate the unbilled service charges a vendor is responsible for, simply multiply the number of days between the last meter reading and the settlement date.
*For Lockyer Valley and Somerset accounts ONLY