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

The number of unresolved household complaints to water companies has soared, sparked by disgruntlement over sewage spills, billing blunders and issues with water meters, according to a new annual report.

Complaints taken to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) in England and Wales after suppliers failed to resolve them jumped by almost a third (29%) for 2023-24, hitting its highest point in nearly ten years, the watchdog disclosed. Environmental concerns and problems with water meters were key drivers of the sharp rise, with customers reaching out to CCW after their suppliers' two-stage complaints procedure proved ineffective.

The CCW's yearly review revealed that customers logged 222,956 grievances directly with their water companies across England and Wales. Over half of these (57%) were about billing issues, including arguments over charges, payment methods, and affordability struggles.

CCW gave both Thames Water and Yorkshire Water – handling water and wastewater – a "poor" rating, which is the lowest on their scale, both in terms of total complaints received and how they dealt with those complaints. Thames Water fared particularly badly, drawing more complaints to itself and CCW than any other provider.

Yorkshire Water was also singled out for poor performance, seeing a 90% increase in the number of complaints escalated to CCW. Cambridge Water has been singled out as the only water-only provider to receive a 'poor' rating for both the volume of complaints and how they were handled.

CCW reported a 77% surge in grievances about Cambridge Water, with most issues stemming from metered household billing. In contrast, Wessex Water and Portsmouth Water earned top marks from CCW on both performance metrics. CCW received a total of 7,977 cases, with environmental complaints skyrocketing by 217% over the past year, largely due to storm overflow spills and broader pollution concerns affecting rivers and seas.

Complaints linked to water meters jumped by 30%, focusing on the frequency of readings and their accuracy. Mike Keil, the chief executive of CCW, expressed his concern: "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."

He also highlighted the growing unease among metered customers: "We’re particularly concerned to see a significant rise in complaints from customers with water meters who are questioning the accuracy of their bill."

With the impending rollout of smart meters, Keil warned: "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."

David Bird, Thames Water’s retail director, commented: "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."

Meanwhile, Imran Patel, Yorkshire Water's group customer experience director, said: "We have worked closely with CCW to audit our complaints process and have received positive feedback for our customer-focused culture and the speed and effectiveness of complaints resolution.

"Of course, we recognise we need to do more and have included in our PR24 (price review) plans, which are awaiting approval from Ofwat, a series of investments designed to improve our customers’ experience when dealing with us."

A spokesman for Water UK remarked: "Water companies work hard to provide the drinking water that is independently rated the joint-highest standard in the world. While any rise in customer complaints should be examined, not all complaints are necessarily evidence of poor service. A better measure is the number of complaints sent by the Consumer Council for Water to adjudication, which fell 37%, from 153 late last year to 57 for the equivalent period this year."

CCW's report has emerged during a time of public and political outrage over the pollution of waterways with sewage spills by firms, even as they distribute dividends to shareholders and bonuses to executives – practices Labour has vowed to halt.

Figures have revealed that sewage discharges into England's rivers and coastal waters more than doubled in 2023. Data from the Environment Agency shows there were 3.6 million hours of spills across the year – equating to around 400 years – a steep climb from 1.75 million hours spilled back in 2022.

Earlier in 2023, the water regulator Ofwat announced hefty fines totalling £168m against three of England’s largest water suppliers for their mishandling of sewage discharge. These include a substantial £104m fine for the beleaguered Thames Water.

Additionally, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water face proposed penalties of £47m nd £17m respectively, after what Ofwat described as a "catalogue of failure" by these companies, revealed in the opening reports from its most extensive investigation into the water industry yet.

Ofwat has suggested that water companies should be allowed to hike bills by a third less than their initial requests. The firms had eyed an average increase of £144 over five years, but Ofwat's cap would limit the rise to 21% or about £19 annually.

This follows the companies' plans to spend an extra £29bn with £5bnfor core business costs and £24bn for government-mandated environmental upgrades. Thames Water has proposed increasing average annual bills by £666.50 per customer by 2030, marking a 52% surge.

And if Ofwat grants additional spending leeway, customers could see their bills balloon to £696, a staggering 59% rise. Ofwat assures it will look at all feedback "carefully" before its final verdict on December 19.