Affordability concerns highest among young and Asian billpayers

Younger people and Asian customers are most likely to struggle to pay their water bills, CCW has found in its annual survey.

The water watchdog’s Water Matters report urged water companies to improve their engagement with these groups  – particularly with the Asian community.

Changes in finances were more pronounced in ethnic minority groups, with 38 per cent of Asian billpayers and 37 per cent of mixed heritage reported being worse off compared to 26 per cent of white British / Irish respondents.

The survey showed people aged 18-29 were most likely to be in a worse financial situation than before and to find their bills unaffordable. This has risen from 10 per cent to 17 per cent year-on-year.

Overall CCW reported a jump in the number of customers who felt their charges to be fair – from 66 to 69 per cent, while perceptions of affordability grew from 77 to 82 per cent for the past year.

However, people aged 18 – 29 years, those with a disability, people of Asian, mixed or “other” ethnicities were more likely to disagree that charges were affordable.

The survey showed a downturn in perceptions and experience of customer engagement, despite the sector taking steps to engage more during the pandemic.

CCW said scores for engagement were higher with 18-29 year olds and significantly higher for households where a disabled person lives. Engagement was lowest among Asian households, despite the greater concerns around affordability with that group. CCW said companies particularly need to improve engagement with Asian customers.

During 2020, 82 per cent of customers agreed charges were affordable, which is up from 78 per cent the previous year. Among households that that reported being worse off in 2020 than before, the amount of people who found water bills unaffordable rose to 13 per cent.

Overall, the 10-year trend shows increasing amounts of customers find bills affordable with a climb from 74 per cent in 2011.

On average, seven per cent of people said bills were unaffordable, which is lower than the previous year (10 per cent) to reflect reductions that came into effect as part of PR19.

CCW said it was too early to assess whether the change in perception of affordability was a trend or a “blip” influenced by the pandemic year.

The report also showed customer satisfaction with water services has risen slightly but views on wastewater treatment have fallen in the past year. Overall satisfaction with water services rose by one per cent since 2019 to 92 per cent while over satisfaction with sewerage services fell from 86 per cent in 2019 to 85 per cent in 2020. Satisfaction with each has remained largely the same for the past decade.