Lynn Parker, Senior Director, Casework, Enforcement and Customers at Ofwat, writes about a suite of new reports that are designed to help water companies learn from good practice and drive up standards of customer service.

Lynn Parker: We all expect safe and reliable supplies of water in our homes and businesses. For almost all of the time, things operate exactly as planned.

Data at a national level shows supply interruptions are extremely rare, and international research states the UK is one of only 10 countries achieving the maximum score for drinking water safety.

But, as with any infrastructure – from energy supplies, to broadband, railways or water – there are times when problems do occur.

It’s in these moments the response from providers is critical. The time when customers need the most support from their water or wastewater company is when things go wrong.

Really, it is straightforward. As customers, we all want problems dealt with as quickly as possible and expect our supplier to treat us in a professional, compassionate and supportive manner. Clear communication is key.

Since 2021, Ofwat has increased its customer insight work to gain a better understanding, through the eyes of customers, of the service and support provided by water and wastewater companies.

This has taken place against a backdrop of increased publicity for the sector and, correspondingly, a decline in customer satisfaction (CCW’s recent Water Matters study) and a decline in trust (Ofwat’s Cost of Living reports and the Ofwat/CCW Customer Spotlight 2024).

And it is something I have been personally keen to get to grips with since joining Ofwat last year.

Having led on consumer protection work at Ofcom, the CMA, the OFT and Ofgem, I’ve seen how this works in other areas and the best and the worst practices. Water companies can learn from each other but also from other sectors. We expect them to do so.

Today, we have published a report that draws on the findings from five water and wastewater-related incidents in 2023 and early 2024, putting them into the context of our customer-focused licence condition, introduced earlier this year.

The report sets out how companies can better meet the needs of customers when something goes wrong.

We have already seen companies take some positive steps in response to the recent introduction of our Principles for Customer Care. Our report showcases some of these activities.

However, more needs to be done by all companies to improve the experiences of customers when things go wrong. Our research into the incidents in our reports showed that customers often felt let down by their water company when they needed them to step up most.

The wider suite of reports published with Consumer Council for Water show recurring themes where companies need to do better:

An overall lack of a customer-centric approach to incident management;

Communications were often inadequate, and did not provide the information customers wanted and needed;

Support offered during incidents was not responsive to customers’ actual experiences and needs;

Support (such as information and financial payments) after incidents was often lacking.

Water companies are custodians of an essential public service, with clear responsibilities to customers and the environment. The Principles that we laid out in February provide a clear steer to companies to help them to drive up standards.

When an incident directly impacts an individual or group of customers – be that for just a few hours or several months – it is vital the company serving them makes the needs of those affected their top priority.

We need to see a step change in company cultures, from board level down, putting customers and customer service at the heart of their decision-making.

The Principles lay out exactly what we expect from the companies now and in the future. And the licence condition gives us the power to take enforcement action where companies fail to meet the bar.

We hope highlighting good practice and actions that we believe companies can take to deliver the service their customers expect and deserve provides the impetus to kickstart a race to the top, so we will not need to show our regulatory teeth in the months and years ahead.

Make no mistake, our new report puts companies on notice on where change is needed. Customers want positive change, and they deserve it now.

We hear that – so if we identify areas of continued poor performance, there is a clear pathway to resolve this.

In situations where companies have failed to comply with the Principles, we will investigate and take appropriate action – this includes enforcement activity.

If a company breaches a licence condition (or any other obligation we enforce), we can impose a financial penalty of up to 10% of the company’s relevant annual turnover.

That’s how serious this is.

It is time for companies to step up. We have sent a clear signal to companies of what we expect. I hope they hear that message and act on it to deliver the service all customers deserve, when they need it.

Click here to download Ofwat’s report to water companies on the expectations relating to its customer-focused licence condition “Improving customer service and support during incidents ” 

The jointly commissioned Ofwat/CCW report, titled “Research into incident response: Overview of findings from research”, has also been published Click here to download Incidents research Blue Marble report overview of findings – Ofwat. The report  looks at the lessons learned from these five incidents:

• Water supply interruption – South East Water – June 2023
• Boil Water Notice – Anglian Water – July 2023
• Odour Incident – Thames Water – Spring/summer 2023
• Low pressure and supply interruption – Yorkshire Water – October/November 2023
• Do Not Use and Do Not Drink notices – Independent Water Networks – January 2024

A jointly commissioned report into the Independent Water Networks incident was also published at the same time as the report into the five incidents. It is the final of those five to be reported on individually. Click here to download Incidents research Blue Marble report on IWNL incident – Ofwat