Customer satisfaction in water slumped in 2023

Average water company customer satisfaction in January 2024 was down 4.1 points year on year to 70.7 out of 100 in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). Utilities was one of four sectors recording a drop in average scores  of 2 points or more.

All of UKCSI’s five dimensions of customer satisfaction were rated lower than in January 2023, especially complaint handling where the drop was 5.2 points (see table). Water company average scores for each of four complaint handling measures had dropped by at least a point out of ten.

Only one water company featured among the top ten organisations in the five customer satisfaction dimensions with Scottish Water in tenth place for complaint handling. In the same category the Environment Agency was in eighth place.

Utilities had the lowest average rating of the 13 UKCSI sectors at 69.5. Satisfaction with energy companies fell in the year by 1.9 points, to 68.4. Ratings in nine sectors fell by 1.6 points or fewer. 

The latest scores came in a year when all-sector average scores matched the previous low set in 2015 of 76 points. The highest ever average score however remains 78.4 recorded in 2022.

UKCSI chief, Joanna Causon, in her foreword said: “Customer satisfaction is closely connected to trust.  In the public sector, and in sectors that deliver essential services, customer service is fundamental to a fair and cohesive society.”