Anger as water complaints soar with spike in customers questioning accuracy of bills

Customers logged 222,956 grievances straight with their h2o companies crossed England and Wales astir a scope of issues including sewage spills, billing blunders and problems with h2o meters

The fig of unresolved household complaints to h2o companies has soared, sparked by disgruntlement implicit sewage spills, billing blunders and issues with h2o meters, according to a caller yearly report.

Complaints taken to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) successful England and Wales aft suppliers failed to resoluteness them jumped by astir a 3rd (29%) for 2023-24, hitting its highest constituent successful astir 10 years, the watchdog disclosed. Environmental concerns and problems with h2o meters were cardinal drivers of the crisp rise, with customers reaching retired to CCW aft their suppliers' two-stage complaints process proved ineffective.

The CCW's yearly reappraisal revealed that customers logged 222,956 grievances straight with their h2o companies crossed England and Wales. Over fractional of these (57%) were astir billing issues, including arguments implicit charges, outgo methods, and affordability struggles.

CCW gave some Thames Water and Yorkshire Water – handling h2o and wastewater – a "poor" rating, which is the lowest connected their scale, some successful presumption of full complaints received and however they dealt with those complaints. Thames Water fared peculiarly badly, drafting much complaints to itself and CCW than immoderate different provider.

Yorkshire Water was besides singled retired for mediocre performance, seeing a 90% summation successful the fig of complaints escalated to CCW. Cambridge Water has been singled retired arsenic the lone water-only supplier to person a 'poor' standing for some the measurement of complaints and however they were handled.

CCW reported a 77% surge successful grievances astir Cambridge Water, with astir issues stemming from metered household billing. In contrast, Wessex Water and Portsmouth Water earned apical marks from CCW connected some show metrics. CCW received a full of 7,977 cases, with biology complaints skyrocketing by 217% implicit the past year, mostly owed to tempest overflow spills and broader contamination concerns affecting rivers and seas.

Complaints linked to h2o meters jumped by 30%, focusing connected the frequence of readings and their accuracy. Mike Keil, the main enforcement of CCW, expressed his concern: "Households are having to discarded acold excessively overmuch clip and vigor resolving complaints, which h2o companies should beryllium getting close archetypal time. Trust successful the h2o assemblage is already severely fractured and the mediocre handling of complaints volition lone compound people’s frustration."

He besides highlighted the increasing unease among metered customers: "We’re peculiarly acrophobic to spot a important emergence successful complaints from customers with h2o meters who are questioning the accuracy of their bill."

With the impending rollout of astute meters, Keil warned: "More companies are readying to rotation retired astute meters implicit the adjacent fewer years, truthful they indispensable perceive and enactment connected people’s concerns present oregon hazard further damaging lawsuit trust."

David Bird, Thames Water’s retail director, commented: "We are committed to improving the acquisition of our customers and person been moving intimately alongside CCW to code these issues. CCW person recognised the collaborative attack we person taken and that the improvements we are making are showing promise. However, we recognise we person much to do."

"Our turnaround program is focused connected resolving lawsuit complaints and improving the prime of their enactment with our business, from archetypal interaction done to resolution. Furthermore, we person projected an ambitious concern program for 2025-2030 based connected customers’ feedback and insight.

"Our customers told america to absorption connected delivering harmless and resilient h2o supplies, code concerns implicit our wide show including connected lawsuit service, and woody much efficaciously with wastewater. If approved, it volition present the improvements customers are looking for."

Meanwhile, Imran Patel, Yorkshire Water's radical lawsuit acquisition director, said: "We person worked intimately with CCW to audit our complaints process and person received affirmative feedback for our customer-focused civilization and the velocity and effectiveness of complaints resolution.

"Of course, we recognise we request to bash much and person included successful our PR24 (price review) plans, which are awaiting support from Ofwat, a bid of investments designed to amended our customers’ acquisition erstwhile dealing with us."

A spokesperson for Water UK remarked: "Water companies enactment hard to supply the drinking h2o that is independently rated the joint-highest modular successful the world. While immoderate emergence successful lawsuit complaints should beryllium examined, not each complaints are needfully grounds of mediocre service. A amended measurement is the fig of complaints sent by the Consumer Council for Water to adjudication, which fell 37%, from 153 precocious past twelvemonth to 57 for the equivalent play this year."

CCW's study has emerged during a clip of nationalist and governmental outrage implicit the contamination of waterways with sewage spills by firms, adjacent arsenic they administer dividends to shareholders and bonuses to executives – practices Labour has vowed to halt.

Figures person revealed that sewage discharges into England's rivers and coastal waters much than doubled successful 2023. Data from the Environment Agency shows determination were 3.6 cardinal hours of spills crossed the twelvemonth – equating to astir 400 years – a steep ascent from 1.75 cardinal hours spilled backmost successful 2022.

Earlier successful 2023, the h2o regulator Ofwat announced hefty fines totalling £168m against 3 of England’s largest h2o suppliers for their mishandling of sewage discharge. These see a important £104m good for the beleaguered Thames Water.

Additionally, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water look projected penalties of £47m nd £17m respectively, aft what Ofwat described arsenic a "catalogue of failure" by these companies, revealed successful the opening reports from its astir extended probe into the h2o manufacture yet.

Ofwat has suggested that h2o companies should beryllium allowed to hike bills by a 3rd little than their archetypal requests. The firms had eyed an mean summation of £144 implicit 5 years, but Ofwat's headdress would bounds the emergence to 21% oregon astir £19 annually.

This follows the companies' plans to walk an other £29bn with £5bnfor halfway concern costs and £24bn for government-mandated biology upgrades. Thames Water has projected expanding mean yearly bills by £666.50 per lawsuit by 2030, marking a 52% surge.

And if Ofwat grants further spending leeway, customers could spot their bills balloon to £696, a staggering 59% rise. Ofwat assures it volition look astatine each feedback "carefully" earlier its last verdict connected December 19.