More pressure is in the pipeline for UK householders, with water bills set to rise.

According to price comparison site uSwitch, from tomorrow (April 1st) water bills are set to increase by an average of six per cent. This marks an increase of 18 pounds for the normal home and means that annual bills will creep upwards from 312 pounds in 2007 to 330 pounds in 2008. Consumers are likely to experience rises across the board, given that all 22 suppliers have indicated their intention to increase prices.

With utility bills putting increasing demands on people’s wallets, higher numbers could swiftly find that they are struggling to meet repayments on credit cards, mortgages and personal loans. Those who find that they are experiencing difficulties that they cannot easily resolve might like to investigate debt consolidation loans as a means of recovering a secure financial standing.

The price comparison site’s research revealed that it is not only water bills that are emptying the pockets of UK consumers. While wage increases will see the average worker taking home an extra 44 pounds each month this year, uSwitch estimates that essential living costs to be met by such individuals will soar by 148 pounds.

Tim Wolfenden, head of home services at the independent price comparison and switching firm, remarks: “Taken in isolation an 18 pound increase on water bills may not sound much, but it is yet another inflation-busting price hike at a time when the overall cost of living is outstripping salary increases. To say that this couldn’t come at a worse time for consumers is an understatement – an extra tug on the purse strings is the last thing that many need.”

Householders finding that creditors are increasingly making demands that they cannot meet might find that a debt consolidation loan provides a useful means of recovering their financial footing. By combining credit cards, existing loans and other debts into a single monthly payment householders could find debts are more efficiently addressed by what funds are available.

In the meantime, Mr Wolfenden suggested that those who are not on a water meter (currently about seven in ten households) could consider getting one installed. Any home with more bedrooms than inhabitants is likely to make gains from such a meter as all unmetered bills are calculated on a standardised rate. Those with larger families might not gain from such a change, as water usage can be difficult to regulate – but users are permitted to switch back to an unmetered scale provided they do so within a year.

“Those consumers who are advised by their water company that they can’t have a meter installed can still request to be have their charges assessed at a metered rate, which again means that they should see a reduction in their bill,” Mr Wolfenden added.

In recent months one debt advice organisation stated that planning was the key to achieving financial stability. James Ketchell of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service stated that setting a timetable to repay debt can be instrumental in bringing it down to more manageable levels and improving credit ratings into the bargain – a task for which a debt consolidation loan could prove useful.

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