Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 29TH MARCH - 4TH APRIL 2019| 17 Operations & Assets Views from the speakers: Brought to you in association with: signs that customers might be struggling to pay their bills. They include always paying on the red reminder letter, later and lesser payment than usual and cancellation of direct debit or resistance to setting a direct debit that will balance the account. He said that while disconnection has "pretty much gone" from the sector with only a handful of cases, suppliers try to identify "self-disconnection" but "extraordi- nary care is needed" in doing so. Referring to some of the costs suppliers face, including market share obligations such as the Warm Home Discount and the Renewables Obligation, he said that if com- panies do not pay there is a knock-on e• ect on other suppliers and their customers who "pick up the tab". "There is a danger of a debt spiral where the mutualisation costs drive a supplier to default." Have things improved? John French, chief executive of The Consumer Council in Northern Ireland, said consumers want to trust suppliers and know they are getting value for money, but they also want fairness and a consistent approach. And Claire Aynsley, head of regulatory compliance and standards at the Credit Ser- vices Association, said she has seen some "questionable practices" in the past 14 years – but also year-on-year improvement. "Debt collection improvements have come about from hard work, change both organisationally and culturally, and good governance, but also from understanding customers and treating them fairly," she said. Ross Betts, head of collections at Thames Water, highlighted that it uses a "customer segmentation" approach. It aims to identify the "won't pay and the "can't" pay custom- ers. Thames is trying to "strike the right bal- ance between consequence and care". Matthew Lashbrook, head of debt and credit control at Green Network Energy, a relatively new supplier in the UK, argued that having "quality data doesn't mean you actually know your customers". And it seems more utility companies will have to get better at building relationships with their customers, regulators and con- sumer bodies if they want to make further progress in tackling debt. Matthew Lashbrook, head of debtand credit control, Green Network Energy "Cash is still king. Cashfl ow is vital to every business." Dan Walker-Nolan, principal of strategy and policy, Ofwat "Aff ordability has to be a priority in the sector, that's why we made it one of the four main themes of the PR19 price controls." Chris Harris, head of regulation, Npower "Suppliers are defaulting and because of the way the system works, that default is going to other suppliers." Claire Aynsley, head of regulatory compliance and standards, Credit Services Association "I have seen some questionable practices in the last 14 years but also year-on-year improvement." Ross Betts, head of collections, Thames Water "Data is better now but it's not perfect." David Gregg, account executive, Verint "Always have the customer in mind when you rebuild processes." Deven Ghelani, director, Policy inPractice "If you don't know what water poverty is, it becomes diffi cult to eradicate it." Brian Morgan, business development director, Rimilia "Turn data into intelligence so you do something diff erent."

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