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Supporting financially vulnerable customers 

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Supporting financially vulnerable customers 

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Through their £3.5m donation to the Severn Trent Trust Fund and their own support options (including the Big Difference Scheme and WaterSure), Severn Trent have helped over 150,000 customers in 2020/21 – more than double the previous year.

Their ‘back-on-track’ scheme was a temporary social tariff whereby customers whose financial circumstances were severely impacted could apply for a 50% reduction in their 2020-21 charges, and through payment breaks, customers experiencing short-term challenges can benefit from additional breathing space.

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The scheme is open to every Severn Trent customer, regardless of your age, employment status, or whether you receive benefits or not.
You don't need to be behind on your bills or on benefits to apply and eligibility is based on an assessment of your overall household income.

The scheme runs for 12 months at a time and you will have to re-apply at the end of each year-long period.

The Big Difference Scheme is run in partnership with the Severn Trent Trust Fund and, until April 2021, Citizens Advice Coventry.

Any Citizens Advice office will be able to tell you more about the Big Difference Scheme and help you apply.

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Big Difference Scheme | Help with paying your bill | Help when you need it | Wonderful on Tap | Severn Trent Water

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The scheme is open to every Severn Trent customer, regardless of your age, employment status, or whether you receive benefits or not. You don't need to be behind on your bills or on benefits to apply and eligibility is based on an assessment of your overall household income.

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Mark’s job loss after epilepsy diagnosis - case study

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Mark’s job loss after epilepsy diagnosis - case study

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"Mark* called Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water as he had recently lost his job after being diagnosed with epilepsy. The advisor he was speaking to recognised that he was vulnerable and transferred him through to the specialist support team.

Mark was obviously distressed by his situation and expressed how he didn’t know much about the illness. He told them: “I don’t even know where to start”.

After looking at his circumstances, the support team advisor, Jody, helped Mark apply for their social tariff, reducing his charges and added him to their priority services register. They worked with Mark to set up a payment plan that was manageable for the next few months and check in with him in after three months.

Jody had not long received epilepsy awareness training, so she was also able to confidently signpost him to Epilepsy Action and he was so grateful for this.
Jody said “I felt that day that I had really helped this customer. I could tell he genuinely wanted and needed that support and guidance so desperately. A real feel-good factor for me as an advisor!”"

*name changed to protect the identity of the customer

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Changing processes to encourage engagement

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Changing processes to encourage engagement

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During lockdown, personal visits for affordability assessments for United Utilities customers had to be postponed. In the interim, they replaced visits with postcards and digital messaging encouraging customers to get in touch.

Post lockdown, United Utilities are now operating a combination of a face-to-face initial doorstep introductions and then a telephony assessment; continuing to take their support directly to customers’ doors.

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Customer quote "They paid some money in our account so we could get out of arrears. It was a one-off payment"

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During the pandemic, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water put in place more support for customers. This included payment holidays for around 8,000 households who were struggling to pay bills. Welsh Water also added 340,000 customers who had to shield temporarily to their priority services register, to ensure that they would receive help if there was a problem.

Recognising that the issues with the pandemic would be around for some time, Welsh Water also redesigned their social tariff so that they could support an additional 70,000 people to get lower bills over the next two years. They worked with partners across their area, such as Citizens Advice, housing associations and local authorities, to ensure this support reached those who needed it most. Locally, Welsh Water also donated £106,000 to support 106 foodbanks across their area.

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6% of 18-34 year olds reported receiving some kind of financial support for water bills during the pandemic 

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Hafren Dyfrdwy have put in place arrangements with third parties so that they can sign customers up to schemes and services on their behalf. This involves allowing trained approvers to review any supporting documentation and accept customers onto the scheme there and then. Their partners include Warm Wales, Citizens Advice (Powys and Wrexham) and Flintshire County Council.

They’ve also set up a referral process with Citizens Advice (Powys and Wrexham) to offer customers holistic independent support to help them manage all their finances, not just their water bill.

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During the pandemic, Yorkshire Water introduced a new social tariff, ‘Direct Support,’ which enabled customers to pay through their welfare benefits, matching pound for pound contributions from Yorkshire Water quarterly, to reduce their debt.

They also changed the process for accessing their social tariffs to ensure the customer is put on these schemes as soon as they advise them, and that they follow up with evidence requirements, so the customer gains the benefit of the scheme immediately from the earliest communication.

During this period, customer related data has played a key role in identifying those in vulnerable circumstances. Yorkshire Water is using credit reference data in combination with their current billing data to identify and proactively contact customers who are likely to need financial support.

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Providing essential water and waste water services is only the start of what we do. Find out where we are now and where we plan to be in 25 years time.

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Proactively helping customers with their bills  

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Proactively helping customers with their bills  

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Portsmouth Water lowered the threshold of their 'Arrear Assist' scheme, which will match every £1 paid by customer from Portsmouth Water, from £300 to £200. This has been proactively offered to customers that are finding it difficult to pay their bills.

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Customer quote "We were put on a water bill cap as our daughter is disabled. It has really helped us"

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Carrie is helped to navigate support - case study

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Carrie is helped to navigate support - case study

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"Carrie* was introduced to Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water by a third party. She was in significant financial difficulty and had built up large debts. She qualified for Welsh Water's social tariff, which would help with her lower bills. However, because she was a homeowner, she wasn’t initially eligible for their debt assistance scheme.

When Welsh Water spoke to her, they found out that her home was in a state of disrepair, which was adding to the difficulties she was facing. Once they understood this, they used their discretion to accept her onto the scheme, which means that if she can stick to her social tariff payments for 12 months, she will be debt free."

*name changed to protect the identity of the customer

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As the pandemic took hold, South West Water ensured automatic renewals of social tariffs were put in place, with extensions made for a twelve-month period to help customers in need. They also eased the requirements to provide documentary evidence and accepted new applications in good faith over the telephone and online. These actions were taken to ensure that vulnerable customers and those who were shielding did not need to leave their homes to post documentation or place additional

burden on GPs.

South West Water also made sure that the temporary uplift in Universal Credit was excluded from the income calculation for their 'WaterCare' tariff to ensure that customers who are

benefitting from this uplift did not become ineligible or receive a lower discount than they would under normal circumstances.

Virtual visits as a result of lockdown restrictions replaced face to face affordability visits. This resulting in over 3,600 appointments being carried out in this way and unlocking c£2.4m of financial support by ensuring customers are receiving all eligible benefits.

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We can offer you a reduction on your water and sewerage charges, if you meet these conditions:

You are on a meter or on assessed charges and;
You or someone in your house receives one of the following means tested benefits:

Housing benefit

Income support

Income based Job Seeker's Allowance

Income based Employment and Support Allowance

Pension Credit (guaranteed element)

Universal Credit (housing element or standard allowance element)

In addition to the above, your 'equivalised' weekly income, after housing costs, must be less than £295. Equivalised income is actual money income which is adjusted to reflect the size of a household. For example, an income of £200 is worth more to a single person than it would be to a family with 3 children. We'll work out your equivalised income based on the details you supply.

To qualify for the WaterCare Tariff, your household bill should represent more than 5% of your equivalised income after housing costs

The Tariff is made up of five bands offering a percentage reduction off the standard metered charges ranging from a 15% reduction to an 85% reduction. Customers will be placed on to one of the WaterCare Tariff bands appropriate to their household circumstances based on the qualifying criteria.

You can apply by completing our WaterCare Application Form and returning it to us, along with your supporting documents (listed within the application form) to: FREEPOST WATERCARE TARIFF (no address details needed)

Want to speak to one of our people about the support available?

Speak to us online, through our web chat

Contact us to arrange a visit from one of our WaterCare advisors

Call us on 0344 346 1010. We're open 8am - 6pm Monday to Fridays and 9am - 1pm Saturdays.

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We can offer you a reduction on your water and sewerage charges, if you meet these conditions: You are on a meter or on assessed charges and;You or someone in your house receives one of the following means tested benefits: Housing benefit Income support Income based Job Seeker's Allowance Income based Employment and Support Allowance Pension Credit (guaranteed element) Universal Credit (housing element or standard allowance element) In addition to the above, your 'equivalised' weekly income, after housing costs, must be less than £295.

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Northumbrian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water know that for some households many of their bills are simply unaffordable and therefore they offer a range of bill reduction schemes aimed at those in most need.

During the pandemic the company had increased the support it provides from their company funded scheme, seeing a 53% rise in the number of customers seeing a reduced bill of up to 50%. Alongside the company scheme they have also seen an 83% growth in their 'Affordability' social tariff, offering a discount of up to 50% for those on the lowest incomes.

At the beginning of the pandemic their main income-based discount tariff was almost fully subscribed so expecting an uptake in demand, in June 2021 they engaged with CCW and carried their research to see if there was an appetite from customers to increase the level of cross subsidy available through the 'SupportPlus' tariff. The results from the research were positive allowing them to secure additional funding for around 25,000 customers.

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Ofwat's #ListenCareShare conversation Theme 3: Information inequality

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Communicate in a way that people understand and that is empathetic

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Communicate in a way that people understand and that is empathetic

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Increasing registrations for Priority Services 

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Increasing registrations for Priority Services 

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The pandemic helped to emphasise the importance of Hafren Dyfrdwy's Priority Services Register (PSR) to identify customers who might need their help and to tailor the support they provide. Over the course of the pandemic, they’ve been proactively promoting the scheme using local partners, local media, social media, their website, and through data sharing with Scottish Power. This has helped them to increase the number of people registered during 2020/21 by over 500 to 2,072.

As part of their Covid-19 response, they’ve also reached out to customers on the PSR to check-in on their wellbeing and to look for early signs that customers may need more support at a future date.

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Following compulsory water metering installations, Southern Water proactively identified 10% of customers who were likely to find the move to metering unaffordable and offered them a package of support. In some instances, they also offered a capped tariff to help address the issues.

Southern Water also worked alongside a social enterprise to help customers recognise if they were entitled to claim certain benefits. They helped more than 3,000 customers secure a total of around £3.7m unclaimed benefits and tax credits – an average of £1200 per customer.

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12% reported using credit cards to pay bills

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Josh is helped to get back on track - case study

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Josh is helped to get back on track - case study

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"Josh* suffers from anxiety and struggles to speak to people on the phone. He had ignored his water bill from Affinity Water for two years but wanted to get back on track. Affinity Water worked with Josh to agree an affordable payment plan to give Josh breathing space until his finances improved, and were able to arrange independent debt advice, from National Debtline and other charities.

Affinity Water arranged a free home visit to see how Josh could cut his water usage to reduce future bills and set up an online account so that Josh could easily make payments, check his balance or set up a direct debit at his convenience. He was also added to the priority services register."

*name changed to protect the identity of the customer

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Ensuring customers know that support is available 

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Ensuring customers know that support is available 

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Working with foodbanks to get information to vulnerable customers

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Working with foodbanks to get information to vulnerable customers

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To support the great work foodbanks do and recognising the reach they have to those who use their service, Bristol Water are working with foodbanks in North Somerset by adding their ‘helping hand’ cards to the food parcels. This has been a pilot exercise but following positive feedback, they are now planning to expand to other regions.

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4 in 10 of those who find it hard to pay bills avoid or delay opening them when struggling with their mental health 

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Thames Water has taken part in new research to help vulnerable customers with poor numeracy skills, to better understand their water bills. The Plain Numbers project aims to simplify customer communications to support people who struggle with numbers. Thames Water is now using the findings as part of its ongoing work to improve its customer billing experience and services.

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Plain Numbers is a new social enterprise bringing the latest insights from behavioural science and our unparalleled knowledge of numeracy in the UK to support regulated firms to improve accessibility for vulnerable customers.

"A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading."
Principle 7, FCA Principles for Businesses

This is challenging for firms given that

Half the adult population in the UK have the everyday maths skills that we expect of a primary school child. Government-commissioned Skills for Life survey

We fill this gap by providing targeted support to enable our Plain Numbers Partners to communicate numbers and data clearly and fairly to customers who struggle with numbers - and to be accredited for doing so.

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Plain Numbers is a new social enterprise bringing the latest insights from behavioural science and our unparalleled knowledge of numeracy in the UK to support regulated firms to improve accessibility for vulnerable customers. "A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading."

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Customer quote "My water supplier reduced my bill to make it more manageable for me to pay weekly. It has made my life easier"

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Targeting customers during lockdown with local radio advertising

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Targeting customers during lockdown with local radio advertising

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Northumbrian Water launched a ‘Help with bills’ local radio campaign to target customers at the time they would receive their annual bills, knowing they could increase due to people being at home more. Their messaging was empathetic, supportive and provided a clear link to the payment break scheme, different ways to pay for cash payers, online registration, social tariff information and a link to Priority Service Register sign-up.

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Over the course of 2020/21, Severn Trent doubled the number of their customers registered with them to 2.6% of their customer base (2019/20: 1.2%) using the following strategy:

Re-consents. Using proactive emailing and WhatsApp campaigns to make re-consenting for customers whose registration is expiring as simple and convenient as possible for them.
Reach. Changes to their website journeys, including greater personalisation, emailing and radio campaigns to help increase registrations.
Share. They’ve taken opportunities for data sharing with similarly essential services (Western Power) to help us to find those most in need of priority services.

They’re now also exploring other data sharing opportunities, including with fire and rescue services so that vulnerable customers identified through their safety checks can also be invited to join their PSR.

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Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213.

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Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213. https://t.co/9SdteDpsJ5

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Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213. pic.twitter.com/9SdteDpsJ5
— Severn Trent (@stwater) May 24, 2020

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Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213. https://t.co/9SdteDpsJ5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213. https://t.co/9SdteDpsJ5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Hey there. We’re using WhatsApp! 📱
Chat to us about your bill, your account, your water supply or your waste services. You can respond to messages whenever you're able to, we're always here.
WhatsApp us on 03457 500 500. If you don’t have WhatsApp, you can text 07380337213.

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The pandemic has changed all of our lives: it has affected our families and our finances; our physical lifestyle and our mental wellbeing; who and where we meet and how we work.

From the practical to the emotional, nothing has been left untouched by the events of the pandemic.

As a sector, we are committed to providing greater public value – making a positive difference for customers through the way in which water and wastewater services are delivered.

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Ofwat's #ListenCareShare conversation to understand customers' experience in pandemic (full video)

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All of Anglian Water's opportunities for customer support were promoted through marketing, with over 2 million emails sent to customers last year. They also promoted the range of their support on pharmacy bags and on Paypoint receipts to help spread their message through non-digital channels.

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Jakub supported by community hub - case study

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Jakub supported by community hub - case study

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"Jakub* is a regular customer of the South Staffordshire Water community hub, as he often visits to get foodbank vouchers. But during the pandemic, his mental health deteriorated. Jakub has no family locally and no support. One day he simply sat and spoke to the community hub adviser and was grateful for a conversation with somebody. In addition, through the conversation, South Staffordshire Water were able to refer him to other agencies for ongoing support."

*name changed to protect the identity of the customer

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Partnership working to support vulnerable customers 

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Partnership working to support vulnerable customers 

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Affinity Water and UK Power Networks are working in partnership to share information with households in their combined supply area, on help and financial support that is available. Information was shared via an email to over 7,000 households currently on Affinity Water priority services register (PSR) to promote further help with energy advice through ‘Connect for Help’. This is free service that helps people reduce their energy bills, stay warm and access the local help available to them.

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Offering energy and money saving advice across England

Offering energy and money saving advice across England

Welcome to Connect for Help

Connect for Help is a free service that is helping people reduce their energy bills, stay warm and access the local help available to them - all without costing them any money.

How Connect for Help works

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Free energy & money advice | Connect for Help

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Offering energy and money saving advice across England Offering energy and money saving advice across England Welcome to Connect for Help Connect for Help is a free service that is helping people reduce their energy bills, stay warm and access the local help available to them - all without costing them any money.

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Ofwat's #ListenCareShare conversation Theme 2: Mental wellbeing

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Yorkshire Water work in a collaborative way with many organisations, an example of this can be seen in the 'Living with Water' partnership, which brings together Yorkshire Water, Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, and the Environment Agency. In addition to building sustainable infrastructure to reduce flood risk, the partnership also has a key focus on community engagement supporting residents to develop knowledge and tools to help themselves be more resilient to flooding.

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To challenge and champion innovation. Contribute to concepts of long-term urban water resilience, creating a thriving community living with water.

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Customer quote "I received a match payment scheme where I paid a reduced bill each month and my water supplier paid the same to clear my debt"

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Work with others to provide support interactions 

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Work with others to provide support interactions 

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United Utilities recognise that working with other organisations with complimentary skills is often the best way to get customers the support they need. They recognised that if a customer is in arrears with their water bill they’ll likely have additional debts with other organisations. United Utilities collaborate primarily with StepChange who provide their agents with a warm transfer capability for customers who they identify are in multi-debt situations. They can also share StepChange’s contact details with the customer where this is helpful for them.

Also they partnered with Turn2us in 2019, one of the leading organisations who offer benefit checks to customers. They currently signpost customers to Turn2us during affordability conversations, on their website and include segmentation led promotions on their collection letters. Their agents also have the ability to send an SMS message to the customer containing Turn2Us’s contact information.

Where a customer needs support beyond just financial in nature they have close working relationships with organisations such Age UK, the British Red Cross and Mind, all of whom can offer expert support, depending on an individual’s needs at the time.

All of these promotions are designed to raise customer awareness ensuring they are accessing all the financial support that they may be eligible for.

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Turn2us is a national charity offering information and practical support to people facing financial insecurity. We help people gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and other support - online, by phone and face to face through our work in communities and the organisations we partner with.

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Promoting Priority Services Register through prescription bag advertising

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Promoting Priority Services Register through prescription bag advertising

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To help to increase the awareness of the Priority Services Register, in October 2021, 59 independent pharmacies in the Bristol Water supply area distributed 50,000 prescription bags to customers which advertised priority services and how to register for it. This was a joint partnership between Western Power, Wessex Water and Bristol Water.

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Both South East Water and Severn Trent have signed up to the Money and Pension Services’ ‘MoneyHelper’ service which offers free, independent advice to any of their customers who are concerned about debt. Their advisors have been trained on the service and can promote it to any customers who may benefit from financial advice and budgeting. Customers can also self-refer to the service from their website.

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MoneyHelper joins up money and pensions guidance to make it quicker and easier to find the right help. MoneyHelper brings together the support and services of three government-backed financial guidance providers: the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise.

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Free and impartial help with money, backed by the government | MoneyHelper

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MoneyHelper: free and impartial help with money and pensions. Formerly Money Advice Service, The Pension Advisory Service and Pension Wise.

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Women are more likely to report worse mental health than men

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Offering help and support when needed most

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Offering help and support when needed most

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Anglian Water have formed new partnerships with Marie Curie and LifeLedger where they offer practical help and support for their customers living or caring for someone with a terminal illness, or recently bereaved. Anglian Water's staff have been trained by a variety of their partner organisations such as Cruze, Lincoln Sensory Services, Blind Veterans, Leeway (Domestic Abuse Charity) and Carers First; this training helps them to better understand the support they can provide.

Anglian Water also funded a dedicated service with Scope, called the Disability Utility Service which provides support to disabled customers with energy, water, benefits, employment, grants and much more.

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Bristol Water have a long-standing partnership with Crimestoppers and this year they got involved with their ‘safety first’ campaign. This involved Y5 and Y6 children across three Bristol schools filming a crime awareness video. Bristol Water provided bags for the children to decorate over the school holidays with the safety theme in mind ‘safety around water’.

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Priority services criteria extended during the pandemic

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Priority services criteria extended during the pandemic

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South West Water encouraged customers who were shielding, in a vulnerable group or who had symptoms to sign up to its Priority Services Register. This meant if there was a supply interruption and customers could not leave their home the company could arrange water deliveries in a safe way. To date over 21,000 customers have registered for this service.

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Signposting support for increases in water consumption

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Signposting support for increases in water consumption

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Along with the clear impact of the pandemic on household incomes, Northumbrian Water have seen a significant increase in household water consumption from families being at home during lockdown periods and more people working from home generally.

They have adapted to this in their communications to customers, where they have seen increases in consumption. They signpost the support available and proactively offer to spread payments to help customers manage the increases we have seen as well as giving them practical advice on how they could use less water in future to keep bills low.

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15% were aware of water companies providing financial support during the pandemic, with just 3% reporting they received any.

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Promoting awareness of help available with partners

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Promoting awareness of help available with partners

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Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water have a small community-based team that works with organisations such as Job Centre Plus, local authorities and Citizens Advice. This team works to raise awareness of their tariffs and to deal with the more complex requests for help from customers who are reluctant to engage with them directly. By dealing with customers and their representatives face-to-face, they can better understand their situation and determine what support is most appropriate.

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48% report their mental health has been worse during the pandemic than in previous years.

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Only 7% report their mental health has been better during the pandemic 

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During our research which took place during the pandemic, 40% of those survey reported feeling tired day to day.

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Understand how customers were being impacted 

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Understand how customers were being impacted 

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Following the pandemic, Hafren Dyfrdwy introduced new questions into their quarterly household customer satisfaction tracker to understand how they were being impacted. As they recognised that debt was becoming an issue for some customers, they also started monitoring changes in payment habits to look for the first signs that customers may be starting to struggle.

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South East Water have implemented their own 'Vulnerability Regional Dashboard' which overlays their region with external data on vulnerability and affordability as well as their own internal data. The approach enables them to undertake a gap analysis and establish the best regional areas to target along with the likely characteristics of customers.

This approach has enabled them to improve their targeting and over the pandemic they have increased both their social messaging as well as press and media advertising of those who may be eligible.

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Allowing customers to fluctuate payments

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Allowing customers to fluctuate payments

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A continued focus on customer feedback surrounding control of their payment arrangements led Northumbrian Water to work with Netcall, an organisation which provides low code software, to design a new service for customers on their website.

The new service allows customers to control and easily fluctuate their payments depending on their needs. The tool is linked to their online account, so has all the details around their balance and bills to be able to provide a tailored sliding scale of payment options allowing changes of up to 50%.

Demand for this service has been higher than expected and of the applications, 30% have requested an increase in payment, with remaining customers requesting a reduction of up to 50%. For larger reductions, these are being accepted on a temporary basis to provide immediate support.

Northumbrian Water are also reaching out to the customers wanting bigger changes to see what else they could do to help, (e.g., checking tariff eligibility) to prevent customers from accruing significant arrears.

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Half of bill payers report their mental health has been worse over the past year

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Supporting customers after payment breaks

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Supporting customers after payment breaks

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During the pandemic, Northumbrian Water developed a programme for supporting customers at the end of their payment breaks with extended arrangements and spreading their remaining balance to allow them to catch up over time. Recognising that for many their circumstances have remained very challenging, this approach has led to 72% of the customers whose payment break has completed maintaining their plans or having already cleared their balance.

Incomes have been significantly impacted for large numbers of households during the pandemic and customers having more control of how and when they pay, has become increasingly important.

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Customer quote "I have not been able to work... and it's put strain on our financial needs as well as stressing our relationship out"

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United Utilities commissioned some Covid-19 research with their customer opinion panel 'Water Talk', to understand what was key for their customers and how the pandemic has impacted attitudes and behaviour. As part of this research, they’ve seen that awareness of their support schemes has increased over the last year since they last ran the research – up from 25% in April 2020 to 40% this year.

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At the outset of the pandemic, Hafren Dyfrdwy gave £30,000 in total to ten charity and community groups who work on the front-line supporting the communities they serve. Over Christmas they also delivered essential items to Wrexham Foodbanks and to Wrexham based domestic violence charity, DASU.

This experience has helped them realise the potential they have to make a real difference to their customers by supporting local organisations in this way. They've therefore created a new £50,000 community fund to provide grants to non-profit organisations for projects that support community wellbeing. They believe that the fund will not only make a real difference for their communities, but also help them to forge closer relationships with the people they serve.

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Settld provide a ‘one stop’ free service for people dealing with end-of-life admin. Their aim is to reduce stress and create a simple secure service to notify multiple companies of a death and manage contact on behalf of the person tasked with closing accounts. Over the last year, Northumbrian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water have been part of a working group formed to identify best practice across several organisations including banks, telecoms, utilities, and bereavement support charities which have helped shape the business model for Settld.

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Settld - Bereavement Notifications & Account Changes

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When a loved one dies, Settld takes care of the stressful admin. Notify companies, close, transfer and amend accounts and obtain date-of-death balances for probate.

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Portsmouth Water have been working with Hampshire Citizens Advice Bureau, alongside SSEN, SGN, Southern Water on the 'Home & Well' initiative. This provides additional help to patients leaving hospital, developing a rounded, multi-organisation, care package to support a healthy transition from the ward to more familiar surroundings.

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Ofwat's #ListenCareShare conversation Theme 1: Financial vulnerability

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"We were put on a water bill cap as our daughter is disabled. It has really helped us." - Listen Care Share research participant

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In partnership with Wessex Water and Weston Power Distribution, Bristol Water supported Avon and Somerset Police and the Dementia Safeguarding Scheme with 1000 wristbands. These wristbands help those people with dementia who may get lost and provides a safe haven to their home with the help of the police.

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Customer quote "I don't have a job. I was on leave from work then was sacked before lockdown. I was on a temporary contract so nothing I could do"

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Proactively looking for customers who are struggling 

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Proactively looking for customers who are struggling 

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Proactively identifying customers that are at risk of falling into debt is a key part of United Utilities' affordability strategies. They use analytics to understand customers’ risk of falling into arrears and act proactively to engage them, including encouraging them to get broader debt advice if appropriate. They use advanced debt risk metrics to understand customers that may find payment difficult and will engage early if they fall behind on payments. For example, at the start of the pandemic they used data to run targeted campaigns for key at risk groups, promoting support and alternative ways to pay.

They have a “high measured bill process” which flags when consumption is higher than expected and there is a risk that a customer might be about to receive a higher than expected bill. They also proactively identify customers that are either high users or likely to be experiencing a leak on their property. As well as providing help with payment options for customers, when engaging with high use customers they will also promote a range of water saving and leak repair solutions.

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4% spoke to water companies about financial support 

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Supporting their communities with funding 

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Supporting their communities with funding 

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Severn Trent launched a £1m Emergency Coronavirus Fund that helped 339 organisations in two phases. The first £500k was donated quickly to charities who were facing unprecedented demand for their services including food banks, mental health charities and those supporting the elderly. The second £500k was donated later in the year to help charities that had struggled financially to get back on their feet.

Their Community Fund, Emergency Fund and a further £1m of funding made available through their water saving charity challenge mean that during 2020/21, they were able to support over 400 organisations with more than £3.5m of funding. This is additional to the £3.5m provided to the Severn Trent Trust Fund.

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Projects chosen by customers

The fund is overseen by a Community Fund Panel made up of our customers who review applications and so, ultimately, it's our customers who decide where the money goes.

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Severn Trent Community Fund | About Us | Severn Trent Water

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Projects chosen by customers The fund is overseen by a Community Fund Panel made up of our customers who review applications and so, ultimately, it's our customers who decide where the money goes.

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Sarah’s experience after being furloughed - case study

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Sarah’s experience after being furloughed - case study

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"Sarah* called South Staffordshire Water to explain that she’d been furloughed and she was unsure when she would return to work. She is a single mother and money was so tight that she was having to use a local food bank and she had no money to top up her energy prepayment meter. Sarah also explained that she had an autistic daughter, who suffers with other medical issues.

South Staffordshire Water helped Sarah by registering her on their priority services register, putting her on their social tariff and also gave her a fuel voucher. Sarah said: “I didn’t realise that South Staffs Water could help in this way, thank you so much.”"

*name changed to protect the identity of the customer

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Recruited 'vulnerability heroes' and training

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Recruited 'vulnerability heroes' and training

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Last year Bristol Water recruited 15 people to become ‘vulnerability heroes’. These people are from across different areas within Bristol Water's region and are ‘go to’ people if any of their teams need support dealing with customers in vulnerable circumstances. Following initial training, the heroes have quarterly meetings to look at new and ongoing initiatives and are able to talk about how they are supporting the business.

Bristol Water also launched a companywide vulnerability training programme, which can be used as training and also as ongoing referral material.

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United Utilities annually donate £3.5m to the United Utilities Trust fund (UUTF) which supports customers in financial difficulty with grants towards payment of their water bill and the purchase of white goods. In addition to traditional grant awards, the UUTF has been awarding grants to customers who have been impacted financially as a result of Covid-19.

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Adapting support to help those affected by the pandemic

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Adapting support to help those affected by the pandemic

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Due to loss of income directly due to Covid-19, some customers have found themselves struggling to pay their water bills for the first time. These customers wouldn’t necessarily be eligible for help using Wessex Water’s social tariff due to the eligibility requirements.

Recognising this was a problem for their customers, Wessex Water worked with debt partners and expert advisors to develop 'Covid-19 Assist', a 6-month social tariff designed specifically for this group. After this time, Wessex Water will work with these customers to check their eligibility for their standard social tariff. Covid-19 Assist will help this group of customers get back on track, retain a habit of paying, avoid building up any unnecessary debt and aids them seek help from debt advice partners.

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Covid-19 financial support | Wessex Water

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If you've experienced a loss of income directly due to Covid-19, we may be able to lower your water bill until your back on track.

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A dedicated funding scheme for projects across the Wessex Water region will provide at least half a million pounds of funding every year to support community projects, debt advice and charities dealing with those suffering the consequences of poverty through poor mental and physical health, hunger, housing problems or unemployment. The Wessex Water Foundation will prioritise those worst affected by the pandemic in the region.

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Adapting social tariffs to support more customers

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Adapting social tariffs to support more customers

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Throughout the pandemic South West Water have reviewed and adapted support they offer to customers who are experiencing affordability issues and will continue do so as the economic effects of the pandemic continue.

In April 2021, they extended their 'WaterCare' tariff with the addition of two new discount bandings (75% and 85%) helping them to support more customers in low-income households that are not receipt of benefits. In 2021/22 they aim to base the WaterSure tariff on the average measured bill, providing further help to c30,000 customers who need help the most.

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We can offer you a reduction on your water and sewerage charges, if you meet these conditions:

You are on a meter or on assessed charges and;
You or someone in your house receives one of the following means tested benefits:

Housing benefit

Income support

Income based Job Seeker's Allowance

Income based Employment and Support Allowance

Pension Credit (guaranteed element)

Universal Credit (housing element or standard allowance element)

In addition to the above, your 'equivalised' weekly income, after housing costs, must be less than £295. Equivalised income is actual money income which is adjusted to reflect the size of a household. For example, an income of £200 is worth more to a single person than it would be to a family with 3 children. We'll work out your equivalised income based on the details you supply.

To qualify for the WaterCare Tariff, your household bill should represent more than 5% of your equivalised income after housing costs

The Tariff is made up of five bands offering a percentage reduction off the standard metered charges ranging from a 15% reduction to an 85% reduction. Customers will be placed on to one of the WaterCare Tariff bands appropriate to their household circumstances based on the qualifying criteria.

You can apply by completing our WaterCare Application Form and returning it to us, along with your supporting documents (listed within the application form) to: FREEPOST WATERCARE TARIFF (no address details needed)

Want to speak to one of our people about the support available?

Speak to us online, through our web chat

Contact us to arrange a visit from one of our WaterCare advisors

Call us on 0344 346 1010. We're open 8am - 6pm Monday to Fridays and 9am - 1pm Saturdays.

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We can offer you a reduction on your water and sewerage charges, if you meet these conditions: You are on a meter or on assessed charges and;You or someone in your house receives one of the following means tested benefits: Housing benefit Income support Income based Job Seeker's Allowance Income based Employment and Support Allowance Pension Credit (guaranteed element) Universal Credit (housing element or standard allowance element) In addition to the above, your 'equivalised' weekly income, after housing costs, must be less than £295.

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Supporting customers who were financially impacted by the pandemic

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Supporting customers who were financially impacted by the pandemic

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United Utilities changed the scale and scope of their social tariff allowing them to support more customers whose income has been affected by Covid-19.

As a result, they were able to support an additional 45,000 customers who were financially impacted by the pandemic, reducing their water bill to an affordable amount. In 2021, they’ve helped 115% more customers to get lower bills, when compared to the same period in 2019.

United Utilities have promoted the new support directly to customers and via partner organisations and the Hardship Hub – a website that provides expert advice to people struggling with debt, to increase overall awareness.

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Severn Trent are now working with several local authorities in their region to provide financial support to young adults as they transition from the care system into independent living. These young adults are fast-tracked on to their Big Difference Scheme, accessing a reduction of 70% from their average bills.

Initially trialled with Coventry City Council, they’ve recently extended the scheme to Wolverhampton City Council and are working on further phased introductions with Telford and Wrekin, and Shropshire Councils.

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In July 2021, we published our report Listen Care Share: Water customers’ experiences during Covid-19, (Cymraeg) which outlines what we heard during the Listen Care Share conversation, alongside research we commissioned in March 2021. It also highlights the challenges faced by water customers and suggests areas for water companies to consider changing their approach.

We have asked water companies to familiarise themselves with the findings in our report and consider the areas of change we have identified. We want companies to provide the best possible support to customers both now and in the future. Within Ofwat, we are carefully thinking about how the report findings should influence our own work.

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Although pensioners have been protected financially throughout the pandemic, many have still been impacted significantly due to shielding or lack of partner agency support. One of Wessex Water’s schemes gives low-income pensioners, who just about manage their finances, a discount of 20% on their water bills. Customers must be in receipt of pension credit or have the state pension as their sole income.

Wessex Water wanted to make sure their support schemes remained as accessible as possible. They commissioned research with eligible pensioners who had not taken up the discount and several charity partner organisations. Following this research, Wessex Water made several improvements to the scheme to ensure it was as easy as possible for this group to access.

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Bristol Water launched their ‘Foundation’, aimed at all things water for children. The online resource tool features lots of useful teaching aids and fun activities which helped to support those who needed to home school during the nationwide lockdowns.

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Mapped around the KS2 curriculum (but fun for adults alike!) dive into our experiments, worksheets and more to learn about all things water.

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Customer quote "When I was furloughed, I was put on a three-month payment break with my water supplier"

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United Utilities regularly seek to share their experience and learning with a wide range of stakeholders. For example, every year since 2018 they have held the North West affordability summit with the aim of bringing together representatives from a wide range of different sectors and communities with the collective goal of identifying new opportunities to make a difference.

In April 2017 they formed their Independent Affordability and Vulnerability Panel to challenge and provide further insight into how best to engage customers in vulnerable circumstances. The Panel acts as a voice for those customers who have traditionally found it difficult to raise concerns, and route into the company for new best practice learnings. The Panel is playing a key role in ensuring that they deliver leading services and is also working with them to co-design new services and interventions.

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10% said they asked friends and family for support

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Collaboration network – extra support club 

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Collaboration network – extra support club 

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Bristol Water are part of the collaboration network which allows them to share best practice and new idea with colleagues across various sectors.

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Bristol Water engaged with local customers by delivering presentations across Somerset and North Somerset to 'Village Agents', who are employed by local Councils to support the needs of residents. They presented the short and long-term support they could provide with affordability issues, the advantages of metering, the importance of water efficiency and their Priority Services Register (PSR).

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Younger people aged 18-34 are more likely to report worse mental health than those aged 55+

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#ListenCareShare

We are encouraging the water sector and stakeholders with an interest around supporting customers more generally, to join the conversation on social media using #ListenCareShare. We have asked water companies to share examples of best practice on how they have adapted to changing circumstances throughout the pandemic and how they have stepped up to support customers.

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We started a conversation...

The pandemic has changed all of our lives : it has affected our families and our finances; our physical lifestyle and our mental wellbeing; who and where we meet and how we work .

From the practical to the emotional, nothing has been left untouched by the events of the past year . And some commentators believe that the full impact is yet to be felt.

As a sector, we are committed to providing greater public value - making a positive difference for customers through the way in which water and wastewater services are delivered.

To do that we needed a deep understanding of the key problems and a rich insight into what customers have experienced throughout the pandemic .

We wanted to pull together different strands of conversations that are happening in isolation to help on both fronts.

Read more about Listen Care Share, or watch the video .

In July 2021, we published our report, Listen Care Share: Water customers' experiences during Covid-19, reflecting on the conversation and looking ahead to what the water sector and beyond can learn.

You can read more about what some of the water companies are doing to support customers in their regions.

#ListenCareShare

We about the water sector doing all it can to support and deliver for customers. So we explored what more could be done in these unprecedented times to make sure customers get the help that will make a difference for them.

And we wanted to share what we hear - the good ideas, the areas that need attention, and the learning that we and others pick up. Through an open and collaborative approach, we want to help to make sure that customers across the country are getting what they need from their water company.

1. Financial vulnerability

2. Mental wellbeing

3. Information inequality

Each element of these is sues is complex and multi-faceted. T o help us understand the m and identify great practice, we have talked to expert organisations , to companies who address these issues daily and, of course, to people who have been affected by them.

How can I get involved?

We are encouraging the water sector and more widely, stakeholders with an interest around supporting customers more generally, to join the conversation on social media using #ListenCareShare.

We would welcome ideas or suggestions for how the sector can respond to changing customer needs and how we can play our part in creating the right environment for water companies to respond to these. You can email [email protected]

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We started a conversation... The pandemic has changed all of our lives: it has affected our families and our finances; our physical lifestyle and our mental wellbeing; who and where we meet and how we work. From the practical to the emotional, nothing has been [...]

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8 ways to improve outcomes for customers

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8 ways to improve outcomes for customers

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In our report, we identified eight important ways to provide support to customers:
1. Increase visibility
Ensure customers know that support is available
2. Be proactive
Look for those who are struggling
3. Communication style
Communicate in a way that people understand and that is empathetic
4. Accessing support
Keep it as simple as possible
5. Customer journey
Tailoring interactions
6. Partnerships
Work with others to provide support
7. Knowledge
Make better use of data
8. Share
Tell others about what works

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Helping customers with affordability and mental health needs 

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Helping customers with affordability and mental health needs 

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Yorkshire Water have also been working with Cadent Gas, British Gas, CCWater, Money and Mental Health Trust and Anglian Water on a best practice guidance for utility companies to support customers that are struggling with both the affordability issues and subsequent mental health impacts post pandemic.

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During the initial lockdown period, many of the charity and supporting organisations had furloughed staff, especially those who normally work face-to-face with their service user. Identifying the resource and financial challenges for these organisations, Yorkshire Water launched their vulnerability partnership fund.

The fund allowed organisations to bid for support in delivering projects and activity to support communities across Yorkshire where increasing awareness and sign ups of the PSR would also be an outcome. This approach supported seven new partnerships in reaching marginalised customers and communities where Yorkshire Water's standard communication methods are not as effective. This has resulted in reaching customers that have previously been difficult to reach.

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Reaching those who are digitally excluded 

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Reaching those who are digitally excluded 

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South West Water have been proactively looking for those who are struggling to pay and raising awareness of the help available, they understand is critical. With this in mind they have asked to work with CCW to pilot a collaborative multi-channel campaign to encourage customers in vulnerable circumstances to contact them. They will use all channels to ensure they take account of any customers, who for many reasons may be digitally excluded.

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Working with local partners to proactively reach out to customers 

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Working with local partners to proactively reach out to customers 

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Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighted the financial challenges faced by those in rented accommodation in Wales, so Hafren Dyfrdwy are working with organisations including Wrexham County Borough Council and Newydd Housing to include ‘Help2Pay’ leaflets in tenancy packs. This is a one-stop leaflet that provides a more accessible snapshot of all their schemes and services.

Hafren Dyfrdwy are also setting up a new arrangement with foodbanks in Wrexham whereby they include their leaflets in the food parcels that they distribute to homes.

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All our research on Scotland, highlighting how issues around poverty affect this nation in particular.

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Customers are more than three times as likely to pay bills by credit card than speak to a utility company about support

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People training to support vulnerable customers 

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People training to support vulnerable customers 

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During the pandemic, Portsmouth Water have increased people training (both contact centre and field) to manage customers that need support, spotting early signs of vulnerability/affordability issues and pro-actively offering additional support available (StepChange, Mind etc.)

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Severn Trent will be providing 100,000 hours of free employability training over the next two years to support the region’s recovery following Covid-19. They have committed to taking on 500 young people at risk of long-term unemployment, on six-month work placements to support them back into work.

Severn Trent will also be delivering 100,000 hours of community training to support communities and their circumstances.

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Ensuring customers are correctly charged for their water

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Ensuring customers are correctly charged for their water

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A new data share project in Kent has enabled South East Water to easily identify customers who are eligible for a social tariff. The data share project with Maidstone Borough Council matches data available to the local authority with account details held by South East Water. South East Water are then able to identify those customers who are eligible for the social tariff, where their water and sewerage bills are capped.

Customers are automatically transferred to the social tariff without a need to apply. As not all customers on a low income seek support and advice, this system will make sure those who meet the criteria are on the correct tariff.

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Better utilisation and sharing of data is a key enabler to future improvements to the support offered to customers. United Utilities recognise the benefits to their customers of their data and systems being able to provide a rounded view of a customer’s circumstances at a glance. They have developed bespoke customer segmentation that coupled with other flags within their billing system enables us to route customer contacts to the team best equipped to support them. This speeds contacts and reduces customer effort and numbers of call transfers. They are continually looking for ways to further enhance the visualisation of a customer’s circumstances enabling their agents to deliver improved customer service and support.

United Utilities are actively working with stakeholders to establish a cross industry data sharing approach. They share data with the DWP to access benefit information for the purpose of lifting customers out of water poverty. This new data share agreement enables them both identify new customers who are eligible for financial support and to validate an existing customer’s ongoing eligibility for support reducing customer effort in reapplying for support year on year.

A PSR data share framework has also been developed between United Utilities, Electricity North West (ENW), Northern Gas Networks (NGN) and Cadent known as “Utilities Together”, they’re working closely together and collaboratively for the sake of their customers that need extra support in the North West.

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You can follow and join the Listen, Care, Share conversation using #ListenCareShare

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Proactive contact with vulnerable customers

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Proactive contact with vulnerable customers

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Recognising that the pandemic was a worrying time for everyone regardless of their financial situation, SES Water's Priority Services team personally contacted over 12,000 customers in vulnerable situations to tell them about what they could do to support them.

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SES Water open letter

In response to Ofwat's report December 2021

Learn more

When you need extra support, we're here to help you.

1. Home

2. Your account

3. Priority customers

Priority customers

Our Priority Services Register

The Priority Services Register (PSR) is free to join. It helps utility companies* like us look after customers who have health, access or extra communication needs and helps us tailor our services to support households who need extra help.

* Utilities include gas and electricity suppliers, the networks companies who transport energy to your home and meter operators and water and sewerage companies.

What is the Priority Services Register?

The PSR promise is made by all participating utility companies in England, Wales and Scotland. We promise to only share details as agreed with you, about your personal situation with our trusted partners/parties** so they can tailor their services to help you.

By sharing your details with trusted partners/parties, you'll get extra support when you need it. For example, some customers - depending upon their circumstances - may be given priority if there's an interruption to energy and water supply. We will always follow privacy laws and your PSR information will never be used for marketing.

Once you've joined, you may be contacted to make sure your details are accurate and up-to-date. This will make sure you we can give you the best support for your needs.

If anything about your situation changes you can tell your utility company and they'll update your details. If you don't want to be on the PSR anymore, just ask to be removed and they'll do this for you.

The services we can offer include:

** Partners/parties include trusted charities such as the British Red Cross, who may assist during incident situations to support companies in safeguarding you and other household members.

Read our tips to prevent becoming a victim of doorstep crime.

Bogus callers

You may also be interested in:

Need help paying your bill? There are many ways we can support you

Noticed a problem? If you have an issue with your water supply we can help

Accessibility help?

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Priority customers and Priority Services Register | SES Water

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In response to Ofwat's report December 2021 Learn more When you need extra support, we're here to help you. Home Your account Priority customers Our Priority Services Register The Priority Services Register (PSR) is free to join.