Survey highlights sector bill inaccuracies and digital shortfalls

Close to 8% of household water customers received inaccurate bills in the past year according to the findings of a survey by utility billing software business Echo Managed Services.

In its report Echo points to low levels of digital billing water with 55% of households still receiving paper bills compared to 25% of energy customers. It said digital innovation “must take place if the water industry is to answer the regulatory expectations set out for AMP 7 and beyond” yet it found that only one in 20 water customers saw a need for replacing paper billing with a digital format.

And while less than half of those surveyed said they read their bill carefully, with 12% not reading it at all, Echo added: “customers most likely to receive their bills via paper are also the ones that check their bills most thoroughly.”

The study found an appetite among households for higher frequency billing with 20% content with annual buying while 31% said they would like quarterly billing and 28% wanted monthly bills.