The Consumer Council for Water is continuing to seek further improvement on customer complaints by three water companies criticised in its annual report back in September 2018 for their poor performance during 2017/18.

Southern Water, Surrey-based SES Water and Bristol Water were asked to provide the watchdog with quarterly reports highlighting what action they were taking to reduce complaints.

Complaints made against Southern Water have fallen by a third after the region’s supplier was challenged to improve its performance by the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater).

CCWater has warned Southern Water it cannot afford to be complacent despite a 32 per cent reduction in written complaints from its customers during the first six months of 2018/19, compared to the same period last year. The number of telephone calls made to the company by its customers to resolve problems also fell by 34 per cent.

The watchdog has been closely monitoring the water company’s performance since it was named the worst performing water company in England and Wales for complaints in CCWater’s annual report back in September 2018.

Sir Tony Redmond, CCWater’s London and South East Chair, said:

“We are encouraged to see Southern has made significant progress but that now needs to be sustained over a long period. We are cautiously optimistic the company can finally improve its standing in the industry.”

SES Water reported a 15 per cent reduction in the number of times customers had to pick up the phone to address a service issue with the Surrey-based supplier, during the first six months of 2018/19. Complaints made in writing to the company also fell by more than a third compared to the same period last year.

Sir Tony Redmond said while the figures provided reason for optimism, SES Water remained “a long way from where we would like it to be compared to rest of the industry.”

Complaints to Bristol Water remain a cause for concern, the watchdog said, warning that the company “has more work to do” to reduce the number of complaints it receives from its customers.

CCWater said it was “disappointed” that despite calling on the company to improve its service the number of written complaints made to it rose by just over one per cent during the first six months of 2018/19, compared to the same period last year.

Last September the watchdog’s annual report revealed that Bristol Water had seen the largest rise in complaints of any water company in England and Wales during 2017/18.

The company responded by taking a series of measures which have helped to substantially reduce the number of calls made to it by customers to resolve problems – but its written complaint numbers remain a concern.

David Heath CBE, Western Chair for the Consumer Council for Water, said:

“As it stands Bristol Water remains in a poor position when it comes to customer complaints and that needs to change.”

“We recognise the company has taken steps to try and improve the way it engages with customers, particularly on social media, but we need to see evidence those changes are reducing complaint numbers.”

All three companies have been asked to provide CCWater with further updates on complaint handling to ensure they continue to improve.