Public trust in water companies hits 11-year low

Customer trust in water companies has fallen to its lowest point in 11 years, with perceptions of the fairness of charges for water and sewerage services also dropping off.

According to CCW’s annual Water Matters survey that gathers customer sentiment and feedback towards water and sewerage providers, there decline across multiple metrics during 2021.

CCW said overall satisfaction with water services has been consistently high among water customers over the 11 years the survey has run, and 2021 was no exception, with 91% of respondents saying they were satisfied with their water company.

However, there was a steep drop in satisfaction with sewerage services from 85% in 2020 to 78% in 2021 following fairly stable flat trend during the preceding decade.

Billpayers’ satisfaction with their overall experience of water and/or sewerage services including provision of services, billing, charges and customer service dropped from 88% to 84%, the lowest level it has been since CCW first introduced this question in 2017.

In a year dominated by river water quality and pollution headlines, public trust in water companies decreased from 7.87 to 7.33 out of 10 – the lowest level since 2011. The proportion of respondents describing their charges as fair fell by 7 percentage points to 62%.

Satisfaction with value for money also dropped slightly by 1 percentage point to 75% for water and 2 percentage points to 76% for sewerage.

Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, the proportion of respondents describing their bills as unaffordable fell from 82% to 76%. The proportion describing them as unaffordable increased from 1 in 14 to 1 in 10, with the rate being higher in Wales at 1 in 8.

One third of households in England and Wales reported their household finances had worsened over the year and affordability concerns were felt most acutely by unemployed, non-working people and students. In 2020, 11% of people in that group said water bills were unaffordable and this doubled to 22% in 2021.

A similar rise from 11% to 17% was seen among respondents who are disabled or living with a disabled person. Awareness of Priority Services Registers rose by 5 percentage points to 48%.

CCW noted that the survey was carried out between October 2021 and March 2023, meaning the situation has likely worsened significantly since then.

Given these concerns, CCW renewed its calls to implement a single social tariff to end the current “postcode lottery” as recommended by the group last year as part of an affordability report commissioned by Defra and Welsh government. It was one of several suggestions, the majority of which have been implemented by the sector itself, but the government is yet to commit to the policy.

Mike Keil, senior director at CCW, said: “Many people are feeling the pressure on their budgets from soaring costs but our report suggests it is leaving some of the most vulnerable households in a perilous position.”

“We don’t want something as essential as water adding to people’s worries, which is why it’s vital the sector and ministers accelerate efforts to introduce a new water affordability scheme that will provide meaningful and sustainable support to those that need it most.”

Legislation would be required to make a social tariff a reality and with companies gearing up towards PR24 business plans, CCW said it wants to see that legislation in place for the tariff to be launched in April 2025 with the next asset management period.