Switch Your Business Water Supplier and Save £££’s!

Once you’ve put in a request to switch suppliers, you’ll have a seven-day cooling-off period while your request is processed, during which time you can change your mind. You don’t have to provide the retailer in question with a reason for backing out of the process.

If you do decide to forge ahead and your request is processed successfully, your current retailer will then issue you with a final bill and your next invoice will be sent by your new supplier.

The first step you need to take when thinking about switching supplier is to find out if you’re eligible to switch or not. You have to be a non-domestic customer in order to make the move, whether you’re a business, charity or public sector organisation.

Your eligibility will be fully assessed by your water retailer, but you can always carry out checks yourself to see if that’s the case. Industry watchdog Ofwat has an eligibility guide you can use to find out if you’re eligible for switching.

The retail water market in England opened up back in April 2017, allowing businesses of all shapes and sizes to choose their water supplier for the first time.

However, because the market is still in its infancy and there are new retailers joining all the time, it can be a tricky landscape to navigate if you’ve never done it before. How are you supposed to know which retailer is the one for you?

Before you consider switching, it can be useful to build up a more in-depth understanding of what your water usage and consumption habits are across your site, as well as finding out more about the deal you’re currently on.

Once you’ve started to build up a picture of your business water footprint, you can then start investigating the different retailers to see which one might be a good fit for you. Once you’ve picked the one you think is right, you can then come to an agreement with them and away you go.

If you’re finding it all a little confusing, however, and aren’t sure where to start, we can certainly help you throughout the process and make sure that you find the best deal for you and your operations.

If you’ve just relocated or are unsure and want to find out who your water supplier is, your first step should be to look at your most recent water bill. If you don’t have this to hand, find out more in our guide here.

Yes! Scotland has been something of a pioneer, opening the world’s first water retail market for businesses back in 2008, allowing non-domestic customers to choose their own water supplier for the very first time.

Now, businesses of any size in Scotland can find their own supplier, as can charities and both nonprofit and public sector organisations, enabling them to sign up with a firm that best meets their specific needs, one that has experience of working within their particular sector or industry.

Yes! Since 2017, businesses in Wales have benefitted from an open retail market, allowing them to choose their supplier. If you own a business, public sector organisation or charity, you may be eligible to switch suppliers to get the best deal possible.

However, your business needs to be over a water threshold limit to be eligible to switch.

To gain a better idea of whether or not you should be paying VAT on water bills is to know what your SIC code is and which category you’re classified under. Find out more about VAT on water bills here.

You may have noticed that you have a meter point administration number (or MPAN) for your electricity supply, and a meter point registration number (or MPRN) for your gas supply. Your SPID is simply the same idea, except that it relates to water. Typically, you will have two SPIDs per business premises, one for the water connection and the other for the sewerage supply. Find out how to find your SPID here.