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Case ref:201305493
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Date:September 2014
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Body:Business Stream
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Sector:Water
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:policy/administration
Summary
Mrs C has a small business premises attached to her home, which she operates for six months of the year. There is no water supply in the premises and Mrs C pays for her domestic water through her council tax. The council also bill Mrs C for her non-domestic rates, for which she receives a 100 percent small business allowance. Mrs C complained that, despite this, Business Stream billed her for water services to the business premises, and that this decision was unreasonable.
During our investigation we considered all the information from Mrs C and Business Stream, including Business Stream's policies about billing and the dual use of property (where a property is used for both domestic and commercial purposes). We found that Business Stream's policy said that where a property is in dual use, and each part of it has a separate rateable value listing on the Scottish Assessors Association website, the proprietor has to make payments for water on both. As the parts of Mrs C's property were separately listed, we found that Business Stream were entitled to bill her, and we did not uphold her complaint.