Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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Databank www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT |FEBRUARY 2019 | 25 GOAL 1 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Ofwat's Service Incen- tive Mechanism (SIM) was introduced in 2010, rating companies out of 100 on their customer service performance. It measures how well they feel a company responded when contacted and how many times they needed to get in touch to have an issue resolved. The means of calculating SIM scores changed in 2015-16 and now only counts scores for household customers – the old approach had included non- household customers, giving less weight to customers' views – and overall scores across the companies have gradually improved over that period. The subject is set for a more significant evolution in AMP7: customer service is one of the four key themes of PR19, and the regulator is introducing its new customer measure of experience, C- MeX, from April 2020. It will consider the views of customers who have not con- tacted their water company, rather than just focusing on those who have had an issue that they needed to resolve. Pilots taking place in 2018- 19 will determine the final de- tails of the methodology, but Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher said in November: "Companies that do well will be those that go beyond think- ing about customer service and complaints handling and consider how every aspect of their service impacts their cus- tomers. I'm looking forward to seeing the improvements this new incentive drives." Ofwat also wants to see companies benchmarking themselves against those excelling in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index rather than simply among themselves, and the regulator noted in January that scores for the utilities sector as a whole are lower than those for other sectors. The Consumer Council for Water also has a role to play in customer experience in handling complaints that could not be resolved with the company directly. It found that nine out of 21 water compa- nies reported an increase in calls from customers to resolve problems in its 'Household complaints to water compa- nies in England and Wales' re- port in September, and asked Bristol Water, SES Water and Southern Water to take action to improve their performance. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Number of complaints by household customers against companies handled by CCWater in 2017- 18 (per 10,000 properties served) Company SIM scores (out of 100) for 2017-18 -0.5% Change in number of unwanted telephone contacts for all companies in 2017-18, falling to 2,132,956 from 2,143,040 -16.7% Change in number of written complaints for all companies in 2017-18, falling to 69,324 from 83,255 Customers satisfied with what water companies provide Customers satisfied with what water companies provide Customers satisfied it is value for money Customers satisfied it is value for money (Source: CCWater Water Matters Annual Tracking Survey) (Source: CCWater report on household complaints to water companies in England and Wales April 2017-March 2018) Source: CC Water Source: Ofwat 92% 88% 72% 75% Complaints received Average SIM score (out of 100) across all water companies by year WATER SEWERAGE Portsmouth Water Wessex Water Bristol Water Northumbrian Water Essex & Suffolk Water South Staffs Water Anglian Water Bournemouth Water Cambridge Water SES Water Severn Trent Yorkshire Water South East Water United Utilities Average Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Hafren Dyfrydwy Affinity Water Thames Water South West Water Southern Water Anglian Water Portsmouth Water Bournemouth Water Wessex Water United Utilities South Staffs and Cambridge Water Northumbrian Water South East Water Dwr Cymru Welsh Water Average South West Water Yorkshire Water Bristol Water Severn Trent Affinity Water Southern Water SES Water Thames Water 0.43 88 87.9 87.6 86.9 86.9 86.9 86.4 85.6 84.6 84.6 84.5 84.3 83.4 83.2 81 79.3 78.7 78.4 0.59 0.88 1.24 1.29 1.33 1.37 1.39 1.42 1.55 1.65 1.65 1.9 1.98 2.07 2.22 2.61 2.69 3.32 3.39 3.68 82.5 (2015-16) 83.7 (2016-17) 84.6 (2017-18)