Complaints to water companies fall for 7th consecutive year
18/09/2015
Complaints to water companies fell by 13.4% this year, which is the seventh year in a row that complaints have fallen.
The Consumer Council for Water revealed that suppliers in England and Wales faced 106,693 complaints in 2014-15, which is a 13.4% drop on the previous year. The majority of the complaints (60%) were about billing and charges.
The Consumer Council for Water has applauded the industries efforts on improving the level of complaints they receive but highlighted that there is still room for improvement. Many people are still encountering problems with their bills, and suppliers need to work on providing “clear, accurate and timely” bills.
Tony Smith, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water said:
"We expect the water industry to continually try and improve its services to customers and many water companies deserve credit for rising to that challenge year after year.
"However, the gulf between the best and worst performers remains unacceptable."
The worst performing water company for complaints was Southern Water, but its complaints did fall by 13% from last year. Director of Southern Water, Simon Oats, said:
"We are disappointed not to have made more progress on reducing complaints.”
"We have spent £13m to upgrade its billing system, which will help customers to manage their accounts online. Once this system has bedded in, we expect that we will see complaint numbers start to fall."
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