South East to grow data sharing scheme

South East Water has delivered savings of £500,00 for customers struggling to pay their water bills through a data share programme with local authorities.

The company plans to expand the scheme, which auto-enrolls eligible billpayers to a social tariff.

It will work with two more local authorities within its region by the end of this year, building on the successes with three councils.

Tanya Sephton, South East Water’s customer services director, explained the programme was designed to solve the problem of low awareness of schemes. She told delegates at the Utility Week Customer Summit last week that awareness and lack of trust were two major barriers for people accessing available help with water bills.

The company worked with three local authorities to identify people in the area who would benefit from support and auto-enrolling them onto a social tariff.

Through the Digital Economy Act, local authorities informed the water company of customers who met eligibility criteria. South East then matched the information with customer data and enrolled householders to a social tariff.

Sephton said around half of the customers on the data match list were already on the company’s social tariff. This meant half were not being reached through the water company’s approaches.

Of the remaining households needing support, around 25% have now been matched through the process, but the final 25% identified as needing support did not match the water company’s data.

She said there was a long, lengthy process to achieve this via the Digital Economy Act to ensure data sharing and consent was legal. The act allows certain parties to share certain data for particular purposes, including water companies and local authorities addressing water poverty.

There were teething issues using the data match process, including around trust. Sephton said billpayers who had been auto-enrolled contacted the water company fearful it was a scam because they did not believe it would be offering extra help.

“There is no silver bullet to ensure customers can and do access support,” Sephton said. “We have to keep plugging away to make sure support is there and easily available to access.”

The company has seen improvements to debt management through the approach and is looking to expand how it reaches all vulnerable households in its region by working with energy providers and the Department for Work and Pensions as well as local resilience forums to access vulnerable customer information to know who is eligible for support and anyone who might struggle accessing it.