Water companies must do more to promote support

Water companies must raise the bar in their promotion of financial support to reach the growing number of billpayers unaware of the schemes available, CCW has said.

The consumer watchdog’s latest annual tracker reveals that awareness of financial assistance has remained below desirable levels, despite the sector boosting communication and visibility of support schemes. Knowledge of support offered through WaterSure fell to just 12% and awareness of priority services dropped slightly from 49% to 47% in 2022.

The survey – now in its 12th year – revealed that more respondents are struggling to pay their bills and facing greater financial hardship year on year across all social backgrounds and ethnicities. The watchdog called for water companies to break down barriers that might stop customers from contacting them, such as language or inaccessible formats.

Year-on-year results remained largely similar in 2022, with 92% of people stating they were satisfied overall with their water supply. However, CCW noted a shift from the number of people stating they were “very satisfied” towards “fairly satisfied” with aspects of service.

Overall satisfaction with sewerage services increased slightly to 79%, but there was a decrease from 64% to 61% in satisfaction with minimising sewer flooding.

CCW drilled into feelings around support with bills, which indicated a slight increase in the amount of people who would contact their company if they struggled to pay – up 2pp to 71%. Over the year, 3% more people actually did contact their supplier.

Mike Keil, senior director of policy at CCW acknowledged the financial support the sector offers billpayers, he said: “We want to help the industry understand where to focus its attention to meet the challenges that people are facing. Companies have been working to improve this financial assistance.”

Keil added: “The last few years has seen significant increases in the number of people who need help now, or who are feeling worried about the future. If companies lose sight of these shifts, there is a risk that people may suffer.”

Across most ethnicity groups, the survey showed a significant increase in the amount of people who found bills unaffordable. People of white British/Irish heritage as well as other white backgrounds, of mixed heritage, Asian households all reported marked increases in struggling to pay bills – particularly for mixed heritage respondents  (29% up from 12% in 2021). After a significant increase in the number of black respondents struggling to pay their water bill in 2021 from 2% to 18%, there was no significant change in 2022.

CCW said companies need to make social tariffs easier to apply for, on channels that suit all customer groups.

“One of the biggest concerns this year”, Keil added, “is that the majority of people with a disability, and households where people with a disability live, feel that their financial situation has worsened since last year.”

Since 2020, the number of households that include a disabled person who feel their financial situation worsened has almost doubled from 32% two years ago, to 61% now.

CCW said companies should target these consumers with meaningful information about the support that they can receive.

This research shows the rapid fall in household financial situations and the difficult many people face as the cost of living crisis continues to impact all facets of life. Water bills, although low compared to energy charges, signify the sheer numbers of people with unaffordable life expenses. Utility Week’s Action on Bills campaign calls on government to urgently engage on targeted support and clarify its position on social tariffs ahead of the next price review period.