South Staffs Cambridge and Sembcorp Bournemouth are the two joint top-performing companies, while Thames Water comes in at the bottom, in the latest average service incentive mechanism (SIM) scores for the water and sewerage and water only companies in England and Wales published by Ofwat today.
The SIM mechanism is part of the regulatory process for setting the price and service package that each of the companies must deliver in each of the five years of the upcoming AMP6 investment period between 2015 and 2020.
Ofwat introduced the SIM as part of companies’ price controls for 2010-15 as a tool to encourage companies to reduce customer complaints and get things right first time. Each company’s customer service performance is assessed each year. This includes measuring the number of complaints they receive and how satisfied customers are with how their contacts are handled.
Each company is given a score out of 100 (their ‘SIM score’) depending on how well they do. The companies independently publish their SIM score each year alongside other information about their performance.
SIM Statistics 2011-2013 Source: Ofwat
In Ofwat’s ‘Setting price controls for 2015-20 – final methodology and expectations for companies’ business plans’ published in July 2013, the regulator said that it would adjust the companies’ price controls for 2015-20 based on each company’s SIM performance.The companies’ SIM score during the three years 2011-12 to 2013-14 will be used to decide whether they should receive a reward or penalty. The reward or penalty they receive will be in the range of +0.5% to -1.0% of a company’s regulated turnover.
Ofwat sais it was publishing each company’s average SIM score for the two years 2011-12 and 2012-13 to provide the companies with “enough information to factor this into their business plan for 2015-20”, which is due to sent to the regulator in December.
Ofwat commented:
“The companies will be able to use this alongside our methodology statement to draw their own conclusions about their relative performance and likely rewards or penalties.”
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