Reading-based Thames Water 'most complained about'
A new report says the water company receives the most complaints and is poor at handling them
Unresolved household complaints to water firms have spiked amid discontent over sewage spills, billing mistakes and problems with water meters, an annual report shows.
The number of complaints escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) by households in England and Wales who failed to achieve a resolution from their supplier rose by almost a third (29%) in 2023-24 – its highest level for nearly a decade, the watchdog said.
Concerns about firms’ environmental performance and water meters had fuelled the steep increase, with customers having exhausted their supplier’s two-stage complaints process by the time they turned to the CCW.
CCW’s annual report shows that customers made a total of 222,956 complaints directly to water companies in England and Wales.
More than half of these (57%) related to issues with billing, including disputes around how much people were being charged, methods of payment and difficulties with the affordability.
CCW rated Thames Water and Yorkshire Water, which are both water and wastewater companies, as “poor” – its lowest category – for both total complaints and the way complaints were handled.
Thames Water was the worst performer overall, with customers making more complaints directly to the company, as well as to CCW, than any other supplier.
Yorkshire Water also performed poorly, with the number of complaints coming to CCW about the company rising by 90%.
Within the 7,977 cases received by CCW, complaints about environmental issues spiked by 217% over the last 12 months, mainly relating to spills from storm overflows and wider pollution of rivers and seas.
Issues relating to water meters rose by 30%, including concerns over how often they were being read and whether they were working properly.
Trust
CCW chief executive Mike Keil said:
“Households are having to waste far too much time and energy resolving complaints, which water companies should be getting right first time. Trust in the water sector is already badly fractured and the poor handling of complaints will only compound people’s frustration.
“We’re particularly concerned to see a significant rise in complaints from customers with water meters who are questioning the accuracy of their bill.
“More companies are planning to roll out smart meters over the next few years, so they must listen and act on people’s concerns now or risk further damaging customer trust.”
Issues
David Bird, retail director at Thames Water, said:
“We are committed to improving the experience of our customers and have been working closely alongside CCW to address these issues. CCW have recognised the collaborative approach we have taken and that the improvements we are making are showing promise. However, we recognise we have more to do.
“Our turnaround plan is focused on resolving customer complaints and improving the quality of their interaction with our business, from first contact through to resolution.
“Furthermore, we have proposed an ambitious business plan for 2025-2030 based on customers’ feedback and insight. Our customers told us to focus on delivering safe and resilient water supplies, address concerns over our overall performance including on customer service, and deal more effectively with wastewater. If approved, it will deliver the improvements customers are looking for.”
CCW’s report comes amid mounting public and political fury around firms’ polluting of waterways with sewage spills as they continue to hand dividends to shareholders, and bonuses to executives – something which Labour has pledged to clamp down on.
Sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas more than doubled in 2023.
According to the Environment Agency, there were 3.6 million hours of spills last year – equal to about 400 years – compared with 1.75 million hours in 2022.