Water companies must show more consistent ambition over support for vulnerable customers

By June 30th, water companies across England and Wales are required to publish the final versions of their vulnerability strategies. These crucial documents serve as a roadmap, detailing how companies will ensure they provide the highest standards of service and support to customers who need extra help with their water and sewerage services.

CCW has worked closely with companies throughout the drafting process and subsequent refinement stages. Our aim has been to ensure that customers  are genuinely at the heart of these strategies and that the resulting plans will effectively meet people’s diverse needs.

We expect companies to clearly articulate their plans for:

• Providing essential support to customers requiring extra help.
• Developing and introducing new support offerings to meet evolving needs.
• Significantly raising awareness of the help and support available to customers.
• Collaborating effectively with other organisations to best serve customer needs.

Beyond these core elements, we also expect companies to demonstrate a high level of ambition in delivering improved outcomes for customers and to clearly outline how they will track their progress against the commitments in their strategies.

Based on the drafts we have reviewed, there is a risk that differing levels of ambition between companies could lead to a ‘postcode lottery’ – where the quality and availability of support varies significantly depending on where a customer lives.

A clear example of this concern is the variation in targets for raising awareness of the extra help available. This is worrying as it is essential that people are aware of the support schemes so they can access the help they need, when they need it most. In our vulnerability manifesto, CCW set out a clear ambition for companies to aim to raise consumer awareness of support to 75% by 2030.

Furthermore, we believe that those receiving support are best placed to judge its effectiveness. We want to see all companies commit to regularly asking customers on their Priority Services Registers (PSRs) about their satisfaction with the support they receive. Our ambition is for companies to aim for a 95% satisfaction rate with support provided by 2030.

As companies make their final decisions on these vital strategies, we are calling on them to challenge themselves – to go further and faster in their plans and commitments. At a time when trust in water companies is historically low, these strategies offer a significant opportunity to demonstrate a genuine, customer-focused vision for the future.

However, the publication of these strategies is just the beginning. Our ongoing focus will be on how companies deliver against their plans. We will be evaluating their effectiveness in achieving improved outcomes for people, including successfully increasing the number of customers registered for support and, crucially, reaching those most in need of extra help.

About the author

Janine Shackleton is a Policy Manager at CCW, leading on our work with the water sector to improve support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Janine Shackleton, Policy Manager, CCW