Business Customer Complaints 2022-23
We publish our annual Business Customer Complaints Report, which gives an overview of complaints made by business customers in the water retail market in England and Wales during 2022 to 2023.
The report shows that written complaints made by business customers to water retailers fell by 16 per cent to 12,312 across England and Wales in 2022/23 – down from 14,694 in the previous year.
It is encouraging to see that complaints have fallen to their lowest level since the water retail market opened in England in 2017. However, performance remains mixed among the larger suppliers, with fewer than half of water retailers seeing a reduction in complaints from their customers.
Better performers
- ADSM
- Water2Business
- First Business Water
Poorer performers
- Water Plus
- SES Business Water
- Castle Water
Complaints to us
Although most of the larger retailers saw fewer complaints about them escalated to CCW, overall complaints to us fell by only 3%. This meant our target of a 10 per cent reduction in complaints to us was unmet, and the number remains 2.5 times higher than it was before the water retail market opened in England. The main reasons for customer discontent remain largely unchanged, with billing and charging behind 71 percent of complaints made to us.
Next steps
We will continue to work closely with retailers, wholesalers, Ofwat and partner agencies to drive improvements across the market, following the targeted approach set out in our Five Year Review of the Water Retail Market. Our regular Business Retail Market Forum provides a good opportunity to share best practice.
We are calling on the poorest performers, whose complaint levels are of particular concern, to address the underlying causes. We are also asking wholesalers to increase the use of smart meters, to help bring down the number of billing and charging disputes.
Our revised complaints guidance means that in future we can report on complaints across all channels, including telephone and social media. This will provide more information about why businesses need to contact their retailer when things go wrong.