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Water company complaints fall 15 per cent
Water customer complaints in 2008/09 fell nearly 15 per cent, the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) announced this week.
The best performer was Portsmouth Water, which received seven complaints per 10,000 customers during the year. Yorkshire Water received the lowest complaints for a water and sewerage company, with 26 per 10,000 customers.
The picture was not rosy across the board, however. United Utilities was the worst performer and saw complaints increase 36 per cent to 132 per 10,000 customers.
A spokesperson for the company said the new policy on surface water charging and changes to bill payment outlets had contributed to the rise. "Since April we have already seen 11 per cent fewer complaints than for the same period last year and we are determined that this improvement will continue," he said.
CCWater chair Yve Buckland singled out South East Water as a company the watchdog was "particularly concerned" about. "For a smaller company that serves only water and is not involved in the sewerage side of the business, South East Water's complaint figures are very poor, and they have been for several years," she said.
The watchdog said the industry average had been helped by "significant improvements" from a few companies that had had problems in recent years. These included Severn Trent Water, with a 40 per cent fall, and Thames Water, down 27 per cent.
CCWater pointed out that although Southern Water's complaints figures had fallen 48 per cent, the company still had the second-highest amount of complaints per 10,000 customers.
Water and sewerage company complaints per 10,000 customers 2008-2009 (2007-2008 figures in brackets)
United Utilities 132 (97)
Southern Water 128 (248)
South West Water 118 (122)
Anglian Water 87 (91)
Welsh Water 83 (71)
Northumbrian Water 74 (59)
Thames Water 68 (94)
Wessex Water 66 (64)
Severn Trent Water 64 (109)
Yorkshire Water 26 (23)
Complaint Handling in the Water Industry in England and Wales - 2008/09
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