Southern Water social tariff not claimed by most vulnerable

Southern Water’s social tariff is not being claimed by a large number of its most vulnerable customers.

Conversely, a large number of people who show “no signs of financial difficulty” are on a social tariff provided by Southern, according to a trial of a data-driven solution which aims to identify and predict financial vulnerability at a household level.

The trial found over a fifth (22%) of pensioners in “severe financial difficulty” are not receiving the benefits they’re eligible for.

Meanwhile, of Southern Water’s 15,000 customers eligible for Pension Credit, 35% are currently claiming for a social tariff “despite being able to manage their finances and showing no signs of financial difficulty”, according to the results of the Water4All trial carried out by Sagacity in partnership with Southern Water.

Water4All is funded through Ofwat’s innovation fund, Water Breakthrough Challenge 2. It’s aim is to provide an end-to-end financial affordability and benefit eligibility solution to water companies to give proactive, targeted and tailored support to their customers. The solution applies advanced analytics and machine learning to correlate a range of data sources, such as age, household composition and income, to determine whether a customer is eligible for support.

During the proof of concept trial, Sagacity analysed 300,000 anonymised records from Southern Water, to ascertain whether people are claiming the benefits they are eligible for.

Rachel Ryan-Crisp, head of customer services and vulnerability lead for Southern Water, said: “We are proud to be part of the consortium supporting Water4All and in taking a leading role to tackle this problem.

“With the cost-of-living spiralling, many people are struggling for the first time in their lives – and as we can see, not everybody knows help exists, or is comfortable claiming. While we do our very best to support all of our vulnerable and low income households, it is a challenge reaching everyone who is eligible for support. This is why this project has been so valuable in ensuring nobody is left behind.”

Anita Dougall, chief executive of Sagacity, added: “ We want to end fuel poverty, ensuring bills are affordable for all.”

Last month, a House of Lords committee called for a single social tariff to be introduced for water customers in England and Wales ahead of the 2024 price review (PR24).

Following a nine-month inquiry into the work of Ofwat, the Industry and Regulators Committee recommended government take a more active role in many areas, including affordability, clearer priorities to Ofwat and a joined-up approach to tackling environmental challenges.

In its report The Affluent and the Effluent, the committee said government should legislate to introduce a single social tariff to provide baseline support for all customers.

Proposals for a single social tariff have gained widespread support, however secretary of state Therese Coffey has previously dismissed the idea.