Thames Water has been blasted as ‘charlatans’ by a pensioner from Reading whose bill has more than doubled to £1,200 per year.
Ross Laugher, 83, from Skilton Road, Tilehurst, previously paid £23 per month for his water bill.
But this year, he has seen his bill rise twice, up to £44 between May and October and then up by £100 a month.
That is more than quadruple his original monthly bill, and more than double the £44 per month he has paid since May.
Slamming the company, Mr Laugher said: “I‘m an old-age pensioner, this daylight robbery! I live at 59 Skilton Road, Tilehurst.
“In the 14 years of the Tories, they took all the money from us to pay for infrastructure and for the service, but they didn’t actually do any of that.
“Suddenly OFWAT have come to them, and they’ve got to clean the muck up, and they are going to make us pay.”
The water company has been accused of discharging sewage into rivers, which is justified to avoid sewage backing up into homes.
Earlier this year, the Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT) fined Thames Water £104.5 million for breaching rules in its wastewater operations.
Mr Laugher then accused Thames Water of calculating his bill incorrectly, despite having a meter to monitor his usage.
He said: “I have a water meter, I think they have massaged the figures.
“During a year, water usage goes up in summer and goes down in winter. In fact, you will have higher water consumption in the summer. They, I believe, have massaged the figures.
“I don’t believe them at all. It’s always been £23 a month, now it’s gone up to £1,200 a year.
“To be honest, what they have given me is nonsense; it’s massaged, I don’t believe it.
“They’ve either come in and not understood how water usage works, or they are massaging the figures. It’s ludicrous, it’s charlatan.”
Previously, Mr Laugher would have paid approximately £276 per year, based on an average payment of £23 a month.
Confronted with his complaints, the water company has stated that his monthly payments were too low.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We looked into Mr Laugher’s account and discovered that his direct debit had been set too low as it had been based on winter consumption when it was originally set.
“This meant that it did not take into account the increase in usage of water over the summer months, where water use typically rises significantly.
“We calculated his new direct debit on usage across the year and it is now in line with the expected amount.
“Investing in our services and providing support to customers with their bills is incredibly important to us.
“For us to continue to deliver billions of litres of clean water and take wastewater away from millions of homes, it’s vital that we invest in our network and infrastructure over the next five years, which is why we have embarked on our largest upgrade scheme in 150 years.”
Mr Laugher had received this justification in his own correspondence with Thames Water.
He called the justification “claptrap nonsense.”
The company does provide discounts for low-income households through WaterHelp and other schemes.
The spokesperson said: “We offer comprehensive support for customers struggling to pay their bill, rated among the best in the sector.
“We’re already helping around 400,000 customers pay their bills and provided £116 million-worth of customer assistance in 2024/25.
“By 2030, one in ten households will be in receipt of support, including a discount of 50 per cent on their bill.
“We would encourage any customer who is concerned about their ability to pay to contact us so we can assess the right package of support for their circumstances.”
