Estate admin · Water charges
Two suspend charges for up to a year, one for twelve weeks, one keeps billing as normal, and one publishes nothing at all.
There is no UK-wide rule. Of eleven water companies checked on 6 September 2026, ten publish a position, ranging from a year's suspension to no relief.
Severn Trent and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water suspend all charges for up to 12 months while an empty property waits for probate. United Utilities stops water-services charges for 12 weeks, then reviews. Anglian, Northumbrian and Wessex Water name a deceased occupier in their charges schemes with no stated time limit, though Northumbrian says charges 'may be cancelled' and Wessex only that they 'may remain payable' unless the vacancy is due to death. South West Water offers a discretionary 'deceased allowance' for up to 12 months.
Thames Water applies its general unoccupied-and-unfurnished rule. Yorkshire Water charges an empty assessed-charge property a reduced £55.33 a year for water and £123.74 for sewerage (2026/27). Southern Water says bills 'will be issued as normal'. Scottish Water publishes nothing.
Why the answer depends on the company
Each concession lives in a document the company writes for itself. Nine of the ten published positions sit in a household charges scheme or on the company's own bereavement page, and each scheme is republished for every charging year. No company points to a shared rule, so each one has decided on its own terms whether a death changes what an empty property pays.
Seven companies wrote a death clause; two did not. Severn Trent, Welsh Water, United Utilities, Anglian, Northumbrian, Wessex and South West Water each name a deceased occupier, a death in probate or a 'deceased allowance'. Thames Water and Yorkshire Water have only a general empty-property rule, which turns on the state of the premises, 'unoccupied and unfurnished' for Thames and 'becomes empty' for Yorkshire, not on why they are empty. Southern Water's scheme has no death clause and its bereavement page says bills continue.
The verb in the clause sets how much you can rely on it. Severn Trent 'will suspend charges'; United Utilities 'will not charge'; Anglian 'will not levy Charges' but 'may withdraw' the unmeasured exemption at any time; Northumbrian says charges 'may be cancelled'; South West Water says 'similar arrangements may apply at the Company's discretion'; Wessex says only that charges 'may remain payable ... unless' the non-occupation is due to death, and never states what is then relieved.
Bereavement pages and charges schemes are edited separately, and they disagree. Anglian, Northumbrian, Wessex, Yorkshire and Thames all have bereavement pages that ask for a meter reading and say nothing about charge relief; the relief is in the scheme. Severn Trent's own downloadable Empty Property Policy PDF, linked from the same page, does not contain the 12-month probate exception the web page states. United Utilities' 12-week concession appears on its bereavement form, not its moving-home FAQ.
What to do with the account
- Identify the water company and read its charges scheme, not only its bereavement page. Five of the ten companies that publish a position (Anglian, Northumbrian, Wessex, Yorkshire, Thames) have bereavement pages that say nothing about charges; the rule is in the scheme document, and Anglian's current clause is only in its 2025-26 edition because a 2026-27 scheme could not be located.
- Tell the company the property is empty as soon as it is, and say the account holder has died. Thames Water is the only one of the eleven that publishes when relief starts: 'from the date you tell us the property is empty'. The other ten do not say, so do not assume backdating either way. Ask when you call, and call early.
- Ask for the concession by name. South West Water's scheme says arrangements 'will not be applied to an account unless a relevant application form has been completed', and its deceased allowance form comes from the Accounts Helpline. United Utilities' bereavement form has a 'Property empty' option to select. Severn Trent's page asks you to 'contact us as soon as possible' if the probate exception applies.
- Take a meter reading before the house is cleared, and be careful about using water afterwards. Welsh Water, Thames, Wessex, Northumbrian, United Utilities, Yorkshire and Anglian's form all ask for a reading. Anglian's scheme treats 'a positive Meter reading' as evidence the premises have not been vacated; Welsh Water charges for any period water is needed for decorating or renovation; Thames says all relevant charges become payable if water is used, including leakage.
- Keep the company's own wording and diarise the time limits. Save Severn Trent's web page rather than its PDF, which omits the exception. Note United Utilities' 12 weeks, the 12-month caps at Severn Trent, Welsh Water and South West Water (whose scheme says that after 12 months full charges are payable unless a meter is installed), and that Severn Trent will 'contact you periodically for an update'.
- Where nothing is waived, record the charges as a debt of the estate. Southern Water says bills 'will be issued as normal until the closure of the account' and that the balance is payable by the estate once probate is issued, not by the executor personally. Wessex Water likewise says debt in the deceased's sole name 'can be taken from the estate'.
What each company publishes
Eleven companies, each checked against its own bereavement page or household charges scheme on 6 September 2026. Look first at whether the rule is death-specific or a general empty-property rule, then at the verb: 'will suspend', 'may be cancelled' and 'may remain payable unless' are three different promises.
| What's Waived | How Long | What You Must Do | Death-Specific Rule? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severn Trent | Up to 12 months. Alternatively, for the period of a council-tax exemption if you send a copy of the exemption letter | Tell them the owner has died and the property is in probate — the page says 'please contact us as soon as possible' and that they 'will contact you periodically for an update'. No dedicated phone number or email is given on this page. Note: the downloadable 'Empty Property Policy' PDF linked from the same page does not repeat the 12-month exception | Yes — 'Owner is deceased, property in probate' is the first of three named exceptions (with long-term hospital/care-home stays and prison) |
| United Utilities | 12 weeks — 'After that period we will contact you again to confirm the name of the person taking responsibility for paying water bills at this property'. What happens to charges after the 12 weeks is not stated | Complete the online bereavement form (or call 0800 912 7249) and select 'Property empty'; the form asks for a meter reading if applicable | Yes — the 12-week statement sits on its bereavement-notification form, not its general moving-home FAQ |
| Thames Water | Not stated — no time limit given; 'if we become aware that water is being used at the property (including water lost due to leakage), all relevant charges will be payable' | Call to report the property empty and be able to show it is unoccupied and unfurnished. Relief 'will take effect from the date you tell us the property is empty' — the only provider of the eleven to publish a start-date rule. Its bereavement page asks for 'an up-to-date meter reading if possible' and says nothing about charge relief | No — a general empty-property rule (Charges Scheme 2026-27 §9.1); the bereavement page is silent on charges |
| Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water | Up to a maximum of a year, while waiting for a Grant of Probate to sell or rent the property | Notify the bereavement team (0800 052 0145, live chat, or the online bereavement form) with the account holder's and executor's name/address, the date of death, a meter reading if safe to take, and the names of anyone living in or due to live in the property | Yes — explicitly tied to a solo occupier's death and the wait for probate |
| Southern Water | N/A | Add executor's details via its bereavement form. Its Household Charges Scheme 2026-27 (Part 2 §10) says 'Charges may remain payable if premises are unoccupied, unless the water supply to the premises has been disconnected because the premises are unoccupied' — and has no death or deceased clause | No — the only one of the eleven whose bereavement page states plainly that bills continue as normal; the balance is then a debt of the estate |
| Anglian Water | Not stated — no time limit; but for unmeasured charges the exemption 'may be withdrawn by us at any time' (§3.6) | No water being consumed — 'a positive Meter reading will be taken as evidence that the Premises have not been vacated' (§3.7). Notify via the bereavement line 0800 141 2944 or the online form (which asks 'Is the property empty?'); the bereavement page itself says nothing about charge relief | Yes — 'the Occupier is deceased' is condition (ii) of Charges Scheme §3.5. Quoted from the 2025-2026 scheme; a 2026-2027 edition could not be located on anglianwater.co.uk |
| Yorkshire Water | 'Until such time as the premises is reoccupied' — no separate time limit | Tell them it's empty; 'customers may be required to provide Yorkshire Water with reasonable evidence ... e.g. council tax ... empty property discount'. It is 'the customer's responsibility to inform Yorkshire Water immediately' if it is reoccupied. Its bereavement page asks for a meter reading and says nothing about charge relief | No — the empty-property rate applies to any empty premises for any reason |
| South West Water | Up to 12 months, 'at the Company's discretion'; §5.16: 'After 12 months full charges will be payable unless a meter is installed' | Apply — 'they will not be applied to an account unless a relevant application form has been completed'; the 'deceased allowance' form is obtained from the Accounts Helpline | Yes — a named 'deceased allowance', framed as discretionary |
| Northumbrian Water | Not stated — no time limit; 'if the property becomes re-occupied by any person, full charges will be applied' | 'Northumbrian Water should be informed'. The clause covers a still-furnished property (a supply turned off by Northumbrian Water is a separate rule, §4.4(32)(b)). Its bereavement page asks for a meter reading and says nothing about charge relief | Yes — 'death of the sole occupant' is named alongside long-term hospitalisation (Household Charges Scheme 2026-27 §4.4(32)(a)) |
| Wessex Water | Not stated | Not stated — no application process in the scheme. Its bereavement page asks for account and executor details and a meter reading, says debt in the deceased's sole name 'can be taken from the estate', and does not mention charge relief | Yes — death is one of two named 'exceptional circumstances' (Household Charges Scheme 2026-27 §6.7(b)) |
| Scottish Water · publishes nothing | Not published | Not published | Not published |
11 checked · 1 publish nothing at all on this question — that row is kept deliberately, because the silence is the finding. Each row is what that provider’s own page says, on the date beside it.
If you are the executor
The water account is one of many the estate will carry until the property is sold or let, and each company's answer needs a date, a name and the wording you were given. The free blank executor checklist at /resources/blank-executor-checklist gives you a place to record every account and its status without an account or a login.
Where a company only 'may' cancel charges, or is silent on when relief starts, the safest record is the company's own words on the day you called. The executor evidence log brief explains why keeping that record matters if the estate is later asked to pay for a period you believed was waived.
Valoren does not contact water companies for you. The routes linked here are the parts of the site that help you keep the estate's accounts in order while you do.
Water charges, answered.
What usually comes next.
Three places to go next, in order of how much you need.
Informational, not advice. Every rule on this page sits in a company's household charges scheme or on its bereavement page, and the schemes are republished for each charging year, usually from 1 April. The clause, its verb, its time cap and its pound figures can all change between editions. Three specific things to confirm: Anglian Water's clause is quoted from its 2025-26 scheme because a 2026-27 edition could not be found on anglianwater.co.uk on 6 September 2026; the Yorkshire Water and South West Water figures are 2026/27 rates; and Severn Trent's 12-month probate exception exists on its web page but not in its downloadable Empty Property Policy PDF, so a rewrite of either could remove it. Re-check the company's current-year scheme document and its bereavement page separately, because they are edited separately and did not agree on the day this was checked. Covers eleven water companies serving households in England, Wales and Scotland, each checked on 6 September 2026 against its own bereavement page and, where one exists, its household charges scheme, not third-party guides. Ten publish a position; Scottish Water publishes nothing. Northern Ireland is not covered. Business premises and non-household retail suppliers are not covered. The page describes a domestic account left empty after the named account holder's death; where a company's wording covers a 'sole occupant' or 'solo occupier', that condition is part of the rule.