CCWater warns of social tariff ‘overlap’

The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has warned of a “significant overlap” between social tariff schemes of water and sewerage companies in certain areas, particularly in the South East of England.

The group said it would continue to work with companies in these areas to ensure any overlap does not cause customer detriment.

CCWater has also warned that some companies are close to exhausting the funding they have for social tariffs. “Whilst social tariffs are providing some help to low income customers the extent to which they can provide support is inevitably constrained by the willingness of other customers to contribute to their cost,” it said.

“This is particularly noticeable when customers find themselves eligible for a scheme operated by their water provider but not for one operated by their sewerage services company, or vice versa,” it added.

The group said an “unintended consequence” of social tariff schemes being based on customers’ support is that both the criteria for the scheme and the level of financial support available can “differ significantly” between companies.

It said it would continue to work with companies on the implementation and improvement of social tariffs, helping to deliver improved take-up levels and overcome issues where customer funding is close to being exhausted.

At the Utility Week Water Customer Conference last month, CCWater chair Alan Lovell warned there was a “lack of consistency” in the way social tariffs are set, and the group wants to see more integration with other agencies.

So far, all 10 of the water and sewerage companies and four of the eight water-only companies have social tariffs, with the remaining four intending to have them in place this year.

Ofwat has called on the water sector to do more to help customers who are struggling to pay their water bills, following the announcement that the average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales for 2016/17 will increase by £2 on the previous year.