Thames ring-fences extra £500k for vulnerability support

Thames Water has dedicated an additional £500,000 in support for financially vulnerable customers.

Of this, £400,000 will be given to organisations that work to help people experiencing hardship across the Thames’ region.

As part of Thames’ Trust Fund initiative grants will be given to debt and money advice services including Citizens Advice centres in London and the Thames Valley.

The company will also inject money to the Trust Fund, which employees can refer customers to in order to access household grants to support householders with long term financial challenges.

The fund helped over 4,000 customers in 2022/23 and the company hopes to outdo this with the next round of funding.

Nina White, director of financial customer care at Thames, said: “The Thames Water Trust Fund is an initiative we are very proud of as part of our commitment to support customers who may be struggling. With the cost of living rising, we are also providing support for 53,000 additional households over the next financial year, increasing the total number of households receiving help to 384,000.”

Earlier this year, Thames embarked on a pilot to expand its social tariff by broadening the eligibility to benefit more billpayers.

The company’s bill-to-income ratio eligibility criteria for support, which is broader than its other available tariffs, proactively identifies households needing help.

It builds on research led by CCW which identified water poverty in households where water bills exceed 5% of total net income, once other housing costs and taxes have been removed.

Affordability woes have dominated discussions around PR24 business plans with bill hikes of up to 40% by 2030 for Thames customers. This compares to average rises of 31% between companies to deliver the ambitious plans for 2025-30.