MoneySavingExpert calls for universal water social tariff

(by Karma Loveday)

MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis made the case for a universal social tariff in water when he gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee last week on the ‘Regulation of water, energy and broadband.’

He said: “I do not understand why the Government did not universalise the social tariff. In my job, I always use this example: mass communication. How do you communicate? How, on my television show, do I explain a social tariff? I have to say, ‘If you’re on a lower income, you may be eligible for a social tariff, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you what a lower income is, because it is different with every water company.’ In some, it is defined by benefits; in some, it is defined by income; and in some, it is defined by an income assessment.”

Lewis went on to champion a centralised database of vulnerability, where customers give consent for their data to be shared. He argued: “We need to have a centralised system where you can volunteer to tell [service providers details of a vulnerability] once, and after telling them once, it should go to all essential service and public service providers, as long as you are happy with that... there should be data privacy, and it should be a voluntary system, not a compulsory one. We need to start working that way. The fact that it is done on a tripartite level is almost a problem from the start.”

He went on to say that a centralised database would facilitate proactive outreach and auto-enrolment onto help schemes to those who are eligible. “I do not believe that anybody is going to object to being put on a social tariff that caps their bill without them asking for it,” he shared.

He further commented: “There are times when you need more proactive and prescriptive regulation about how things should operate, and there are times when you need policy-based regulation. When it comes to dealing with vulnerable customers where there are no competitive issues – and there aren’t competitive issues in this – you need to have more prescription about what should and shouldn’t be done. It’s a bit flaccid at the moment.”