MPs urge compassion as they reveal patchwork use of bailiffs by water industry

(by Karma Loveday)

Further evidence of the patchwork experience of customers who are struggling to pay their water bills has been revealed by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee. It used its unique position to quiz the 11 water and sewerage companies on their approach to customers in arrears, including use of bailiffs and debt enforcement policy for vulnerable customers.

This revealed that companies are taking very different approaches.

Bailiffs, or enforcement agents, are instructed to act by a company following a court order. At one end of the scale, Wessex Water has not used bailiffs at all for ten years. It was excluded from the data. The other companies showed different scales of use.

The most significant users of bailiffs between 2019 and 2025 were United Utilities, Yorkshire Water, Southern Water, South West Water/Pennon and Northumbrian Water (Figure 2). Adjusted for the size of their local population, the water companies that made the most use of bailiffs in 2025 were South West Water/Pennon, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water (Figure 3).

The overall use of bailiffs across the industry peaked in 2023 and 2024, even while some companies used them less in this period.

There was variation too in approaches for deciding when litigation might be inappropriate against a particular customer. Some use a holistic analysis, whereas others have categories of blanket exemption.  The committee found that customers on the Priority Services Register or otherwise identified as ill, disabled or elderly are frequently exempted from litigation. Firms such as Northumbrian said they do not use bailiffs who are known to be in receipt of means-tested benefits, whereas Southern said these customers are eligible for litigation.

EFRA Committee chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: “It is interesting and concerning to see the extent of their use of bailiffs over time and to see such differing approaches. The figures should be seen in the context of various cost of living shocks that have hit households over recent years. 

“For any family or individual to be subject to legal action, is no small matter and can be a cause of severe stress and anxiety. We would urge any company to review its practices and ensure they are as sparing and compassionate as possible.”