Water firms receive record numbers of complaints
October 10, 2008
According to a recent report water firms have been receiving record numbers of complaints over the past twelve months. The data comes from the water watchdog, the Consumer Council for Water. Figures show that in the financial year to April around 273,000 complaints were made about water companies. This was an increase of 11% compared to the previous financial year.
The majority of complaints were about three water companies, which were Southern Water, Anglian Water, and South East Water. Southern Water saw its complaint levels rise by 155%. Over 50% of the complaints made related to billing and charges according to officials from the water watchdog. Officials from Southern Water said that the company received a higher level of complaints during the first half of the financial year due to the introduction of a new billing system that suffered teething problems.
Anglian Water also said that it was a new billing system that had resulted in a higher level of complaints. South West Water expressed regret at the number of complaints it had received and stated that it was “working with our new partner, Accenture to provide first class customer billing and account services”. Before the 2005/2006 financial year the level of year on year complaints regarding water firms had held pretty steady.
An official from the Consumer Council for Water said: “Without the high increases in complaints to Southern Water, Anglian Water and South East Water, figures for the industry overall would have dropped.”
She added: “It is even more disappointing that for the third year in a row, the rise in complaints has been heavily influenced by individual water companies introducing new billing systems that have gone wrong.”
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