The guidance follows the publication of a report by the ‘water watchdog’, the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), revealing an unprecedented increase in business customer complaints about inaccurate billing and poor service.
The CCW report on retail market performance reveals a 20% year-on-year increase in complaints made by business customers against their water retailer, and a 43% year-on-year increase in complaints made by customers about their retailer to CCW
Since the opening of the water retail market in 2017, CCW has witnessed a four-fold increase in customer complaints about retailers, the majority of them related to billing and charges.
Similar trends have been experienced at NFU CallFirst, the first point of contact for members with a water billing dispute.
The NFU has issued a Business Guide to explain the process to follow when dealing with a retail water complaint. The guide is available at NFU Business Guides or by telephone to NFU CallFirst on 0370 8458458.
Paul Hammett, NFU water specialist, stressed the importance of following the correct procedure.
‘Too often we have found that members who receive an incorrect invoice respond in a common sense way by phoning their retailer and then taking no further action on the assumption that the error will be corrected’, said Paul.
‘However, whilst the mistakes are sometimes rectified, often our members repeatedly contact their retailer to remind them of the outstanding dispute. But customers risk going around in circles until they launch a formal stage 1 and stage 2 complaints procedure’, he said.
The NFU is urging members to follow the established procedure. This is the shortest route – if needed – to gaining access to CCW which exists to provide free help and support to all water customers.
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