CC Water charts millions of pounds worth of financial wins for customers

The Consumer Council for Water last week published its 2017/18 annual review, which, it said, “sets out what we delivered for consumers during a year when water companies – and the essential services they provide – faced intense public and political scrutiny”.

The watchdog highlighted the following achievements:

• securing nearly £1.4m in financial redress for aggrieved customers after handling almost 19,000 complaints and enquiries about water companies;

• identifying around £14.5m in potential annual bill savings for customers through its water meter calculator;

• helping about 3,400 low-income consumers identify potential welfare payments totalling more than £9.3m through its Benefits Calculator;

• making sure almost 400,000 low-income households are now receiving lower bills through working with water companies to boost take-up of social tariffs by more than 50%;

• helping to secure up to £150 in compensation for customers affected by the disruption to water supplies following the Beast from the East freezing weather;

• successfully challenging poor performing water companies and retailers to improve their service and reduce complaints;

• championing the interests of small and medium-sized businesses to make sure they do not miss out on the benefits of the retail water market in England.