Water retail customer code updated

Ofwat has updated the Customer Protection Code of Practice for business retailers, despite concerns from some companies.

Under the changes, the water regulator will now be able to make non-substantive changes to the code without the previously required 28-day consultation period.

Measures put in place to account for Covid-19 have also been removed from the code and Ofwat will now be required to notify relevant stakeholders upon receipt or proposal of a code change proposal from eligible parties.

The Customer Protection Code of Practice has been in place since the market opened in 2017. It has been updated several times to respond to specific challenges faced by customers, including protections related to the Covid-19 pandemic and customer credit balances.

Now that the market has been in operation for over six years, Ofwat said that it has “a better grasp of evolving customer expectations and the challenges facing market development”. Therefore, Ofwat thinks that it is appropriate to update the code to ensure it is “providing effective protection for customers [and in] the interests of current and future NHH (non-household) customers”.

The first change, which will allow Ofgem to make non-substantive changes to the code without a lengthy consultation, was supported by Business Stream, CCW, Pennon Water Services, Everflow, Hafren Dyfrdwy, MOSL, and United Utilities.

However, WaterPlus said that it had some reservations about the proposal as “it is not certain that any definition of ‘non-substantive’ would align to market expectation and it is possible that a non-material change for most in the market might have a more material impact on others”.

Castle Water, meanwhile, said that it strongly objected to the change for numerous reasons, including: the definition of a non-substantial change is open to interpretation; there is no other regulatory precedent to make the change; it does not provide “appropriate checks and balances”.

In response, Ofwat said that it would still run consultations on changes to the code but it would do so for a shorter period than the previously stipulated 28 days.

It added: “We think that this will improve the efficiency of the change process while ensuring Trading Parties will always continue to have the opportunity to make representations on a change.”

Castle Water also objected to the removal of Covid-19 requirements from the code, as it said that it continues to receive complaints from customers about meter reads missed in the past due to Covid-19.

All other respondents supported the code change, however, and Ofwat has now waved it through.

Ofwat said the Covid-19 “provisions have now expired or are no longer relevant”.