An independent report has revealed how households in Wales who are customers of Welsh Water are generally more satisfied with their water and sewerage services than customers in England while the company also remains amongst the most trusted across the water sector.

The report, by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), detailed how customers reported higher levels of trust and satisfaction in Wales – where not-for-profit Welsh Water is the largest provider – for water, sewerage and retail services, as well as value for money.

The latest findings from CCW’s annual Water Matters survey tracks household customers’ views and preferences on the services and support that they receive from the water companies in England and Wales.

Key findings include:

• Satisfaction with water services remains high despite the challenges water companies have faced during Covid-19 restrictions. 92 per cent of customers said they were satisfied with their water service with 85 per cent expressing the same view about their sewerage service.
• Satisfaction with the value for money customers receive has increased over the past decade and currently stands at 76 per cent for water and 78 per cent for sewerage.
• More in-depth analysis in theHighlights Report shows that some groups in society that were struggling to afford their water bill prior to the pandemic now seem to be worse off.
• Asian and mixed ethnic groups, people under 30 and disabled households are among those most likely to be facing difficulties affording their water bill.
• Water companies have made efforts to boost support for households struggling to pay their bill during Covid-19 but this is still not reaching many of those that need it most.

Welsh Water is the only not-for-profit water company in England and Wales – meaning it has no shareholders and invests any surplus money it makes back into services and to benefit customers.

The company, whose vision is to earn the trust of its customers every day, maintained high scores across all categories, and exceeded previous results across care and trust as well as overall satisfaction of water supply and sewerage services.

The CCW report confirmed that  for Welsh Water:

• overall trust in the company increased from 7.95/10 in 2019 to 8.3/10 in 2020 (vs 7.86 in England);
• 96% of customers reported being generally satisfied with their water services (vs 92% in England);
• 88% of customers reported being generally satisfied with their sewerage services (vs 85% in England); and
• 81% of customers agreed that the company cares about the service it provides (vs 71% in England).

Welsh Water has introduced a series of new measures over the past 12 months to help support customers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Peter Perry, Chief Executive of Welsh Water said:

“As the only not-for-profit company in England and Wales, providing great customer service is at the heart of everything we do and our absolute priority.

“We have faced an unprecedented, challenging year in responding to COVID-19 and maintain our services in some very difficult circumstances. We are determined to build on this further and ensure we continue to meet the growing expectations of our customers. This includes harnessing technological change to provide a personalised service for customers while also maintaining for high-quality services and good value-for-money.”

Click here to download CCW's report Water Matters June 2021 in full