Water complaints in England and Wales 'fall by 4.5%'

Water meters now feature in a number of homes

Complaints from customers to water companies in England and Wales have fallen for the third year in a row.

They dropped by 4.5% in 2010-11, meaning that complaints have reduced by nearly a third in the last three years, the Consumer Council for Water said.

Industry body Water UK said the drop was an "encouraging trend".

However, complaints remain 27% higher than the lowest level on record and the watchdog has vowed to maintain pressure on the companies.

Refunds

In total there were 185,140 complaints to companies in England and Wales in 2010-11, compared with 193,824 in the previous 12 months. On average there were 61 complaints for every 10,000 households.

About two-thirds of these complaints fell into the category of billing and charges, although not all proved to be justified.

Generally, customers initially complain to their local water company, before about one in 10 take their dispute to the Consumer Council for Water.

The watchdog has secured more than £12m in compensation and rebates for customers, and vowed to keep the pressure on companies to improve their customer service.

"It is good news for many customers that complaint levels are down and overall results look promising," said Dame Yve Buckland, who chairs the council.

"We will continue to exert pressure on those companies who are underperforming until they match the best."

Rob Wesley, policy adviser for Water UK, which represents the water companies, said companies had concentrated on getting bills correct and meeting appointments the first time around.

He said there had been some problems with pipes freezing and engineers struggling to reach customers to help during the particularly cold spell last winter.

Regional picture

Among the companies that deal with water and sewerage, United Utilities had the most complaints per 10,000 households in 2010-11.

It also had the most complaints in total at 39,004, a rise of 6.7% compared with the previous year.

South East Water had the highest number of complaints among the water-only companies, as well as the most gripes per 10,000 households. However, it reduced its complaint numbers by 9.6% compared with 2009-10.

The biggest improvements were seen at Bristol Water, where complaints were down 41.6%, and Wessex Water, where the fall was 39.3% over the same period.

Wessex had the lowest proportion of complaints per 10,000 households among the water and sewerage companies, and Portsmouth was performing the best under the same measure among the water-only companies, the watchdog's figures show.

Water and sewerage bills in England and Wales went up by 4.6% in April, to an average of £356 per household.

This financial year is the second of the current five-year policy under which prices will be allowed to rise roughly in line with inflation. Regulator Ofwat said the profits generated by higher prices would help finance £22bn of spending on improved services.