Utility Week

8 | 5TH - 11TH OCTOBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK News "Despite customer satisfaction levels of around 90 per cent, we know there is more to do." Prentice from Huntswood adds: "It's clear CCWater is maintaining a sharp focus on the need for firms to make significant improvements in how they deal with complaints. With the likelihood of ongoing extremes in weather – be it freeze-thaws or heatwaves – it's critical providers perform a robust assessment of their operational models so they are better equipped to deal with spikes in complaints." Causes of complaint Disputes about billing and charges accounted for more than half (53 per cent) of the written complaints received by the industry, despite a 22 per cent reduction compared to the previous year. Written complaints about sewerage service (23.8 per cent), metering (33.4 per cent) and the "other" category (10.8 per cent) also fell. Customer complaints about water supply increased during the year, mainly because of the disruption experienced during and aer the Beast from the East. Some companies reported a spike in complaints for the fourth quarter of the year, leading to an increase of 10.4 per cent compared with 2016/17. Companies resolved 95.7 per cent of written complaints at the first stage of their procedure, an improvement of 0.5 per cent on the previous year. In 2017/18, CCWater received 6,815 complaints from household customers, a reduction of 13 per cent. Written complaints and unwanted telephone contacts made to water companies Unwanted telephone contacts Written complaints 2016-17 2017-18 Change % Per 10,000 2016-17 2017-18 Change % Per 10,000 connected properties connected properties WASCs Southern 220,306 248,936 13.0 1,255.7 7,881 6,259 -20.6 31.6 Thames 511,792 509,964 -0.4 907.9 17,809 17,039 -4.3 30.3 Dwr Cymru 111,667 121,361 8.7 835.9 l 5,430 3,148 -42.0 21.7 l Yorkshire 210,300 189,821 -9.7 831.0 l 5,748 3,897 -32.2 17.1 South West 55,055 53,753 -2.4 692.2 l 2,513 2,202 -12.4 28.4 l Northumbrian 81,950 81,077 -1.1 663.9 l 2,902 2,534 -12.7 20.7 l Wessex 75,984 79,615 4.8 651.1 l 1,767 1,787 1.1 14.6 Severn Trent 238,398 262,409 10.1 629.2 l 11,985 9,921 -17.2 23.8 l United Utilities 183,403 174,391 -4.9 544.5 l 7,441 6,755 -9.2 21.1 l Anglian 112,570 103,798 -7.8 360.0 8,606 6,382 -25.8 22.1 l WOCs SES Water 22,563 27,248 20.8 983.4 598 567 -5.2 20.5 l Affinity 157,736 113,321 -28.2 794.8 l 3,879 2,743 -29.3 19.2 l Bristol 26,229 35,885 36.8 713.9 l 1,028 1,560 51.8 31.0 Essex & Suffolk 40,138 36,807 -8.3 481.4 1,826 1,356 -25.7 17.7 l Cambridge 5,897 6,241 5.8 467.8 460 286 -37.8 21.4 l South East 41,764 40,342 -3.4 423.1 1,400 1,476 5.4 15.5 Hartlepool 1,809 1,802 -0.4 420.8 136 92 -32.4 21.5 l Portsmouth 11,031 12,175 10.4 403.8 380 310 -18.4 10.3 South Staffs 20,053 22,072 10.1 397.2 924 585 -36.7 10.5 Dee Valley 6,988 4,646 -33.5 391.2 135 180 33.3 15.2 Bournemouth 7,407 7,292 -1.6 375.6 407 245 -39.8 12.6 Total/average 2,143,040 2,132,956 -0.5 709.0 83,255 69,324 -16.7 23.0 Key: = increase on previous year for written complaints or unwanted contacts and >25% above average per 10,00 connections; l = average written com- plaints or unwanted contacts per 10,000 connections ; = decrease on previous year for written complaints or unwanted contacts and <25% below average per 10,000 connections What the poor performing companies have to say "Overall, we have reduced complaints by 58 per cent and while we are rapidly closing the gap between ourselves and the rest of the industry, we know that genuine, lasting change takes time… the changes we've introduced this year are driving down complaints, and we are more proactively managing customers' accounts and resolving more problems for customers the first time they call us." Simon Oates, chief customer officer, Southern Water "I am very disappointed that so many customers felt the need to con- tact us in the past year and that we have moved from being among the better performers in the industry. The past year has been one of the most difficult in the company's history, and we are pleased that CCWater has recognised that four major incidents, including the largest burst in the company's history, led to an increase in unwanted calls and written complaints. "We are committed to improving our customer satisfaction and we will continue working closely with CCWater. While this report shines a light on areas in which we should focus, we are already making great strides in improving customer service which has been seen by a drop in complaints already this year." Ben Newby, customer services director, Bristol Water "We are aware of our increase in unwanted telephone contacts and are working hard to focus on delivering the best service possible to every single customer every time. While we have seen our complaints reduce by around 5 per cent from 2016/17 to 2017/18, we are currently in the midst of a two-year programme specifically aimed at improving the experience our customers will receive and are fundamentally changing a lot of what we do. "We've seen significant changes from the hard work put into this programme so far, with our complaints falling by 52 per cent from Q1 of this year compared to Q1 last year. We're also at a three-year low of 9.8 complaints per 1,000 properties." SES Water, spokesperson

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