Householders baffled by water bill jargon

All but a half of UK household customers struggle to understand their water bill while 12% don’t even read them according to research findings commissioned by South Staff Water’s billing software stablemate, Echo Managed Services.

The researchers surveyed 1,000 UK households and found that one in seven billpayers said their supplier used confusing jargon in their bills and other communications with customers. And only 39% of customers thought their supplier was making an effort to connect with them in a clear and simple way.

However, Echo reported that 17% of UK households found the language in certain providers’ bills easier to understand following the changes. This it said, was in line with improvements being made in energy supply where 16% of customers were reported to have found bills easier to understand.

One in ten (10%) households had noticed changes to the design of their bills in the past year and one fifth said that bills were becoming clearer in design. But only 48% actually read their bills thoroughly and 12% admitted to not even looking at them.