Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MARCH 2021 | 31 Customers housing, that in itself helps to tackle the usage question, which helps to tackle the a ordability question." Janine Shackleton, policy manager, CCW Removing the communication barriers to accessing support is a key area for CCW's policy manager, Janine Shackleton. Shackleton points to the consumer group's Water Matters research, which showed that awareness of the support o ered by water companies to customers in vulnerable circumstances remains low despite the growing demand for it. She adds: "There are a number of barri- ers which currently stand in the way of some customers accessing support. These include lack of awareness, lack of trust, fear of form- € lling, low literacy, emotional and language barriers, and disabilities. "We need to tackle and remove the com- munication barriers between water com- panies and the communities they serve to ensure everyone is aware of the support that exists and how to access it when they needƒit." Shackleton believes her sector needs to be better at sharing data, and says water companies are "data poor" because they do not have contracts with their customers. She continues: "'Distant' customer rela- tionships present a risk in that vulnerable customers may not be aware of the support available and/or trust their supplier to help them. Water companies are 'data poor' because they don't have contracts with their customers. Improved data-sharing and data- matching is essential to identifying who could need support." Communicating with customers during a disruption to service is seen by Shackleton as a form of aid in itself. She says her organi- sation wants to make sure consumers get easy-to-understand information via the com- munication channels they use. "We are collaborating with water com- panies to help them understand the com- munication preferences of communities and to establish the water company as a trusted source of information and support. "We will also play our part in creating information notes on what to expect for consumers and doing more to understand people's experiences of incidents by using our local networks and deploying other tech- niques such as more formal research." Elizabeth Blakelock, principal policy manager, Citizens Advice Citizens Advice's principal policy manager, Elizabeth Blakelock, has three overall wishes for consumer vulnerability – and ensuring customers have a range of contact options available is her number one. "The € rst is to make it easy to get in touch with an omnichannel approach that includes telephone. "The second is an intensi€ cation of col- laboration, this came out really clearly from Utility Week's Debt and Vulnerability Con- ference. It's sharing experiences of reaching consumers in vulnerable circumstances and looking at examples across industry so that we can get good practice far quicker across the board. "And the third one is listening, listening directly to consumers in vulnerable circum- stances, accessing research like ours that articulates people's experiences and then using that research and insight, not just leav- ing it on a shelf, using it to make sure that products are accessible and that our industry is inclusive by design." Adam Scorer, chief executive, National Energy Action NEA chief executive Adam Scorer wants to see more of companies o ering support to those in need, including debt repayment breathing space. However, he says: "I still see too much requirement for customers to be the ones to approach suppliers for support. For the general consumer mass that's right but if you have people on the priority services register and you know why they are, I still think there's more that companies can do to proactively check in with those customers, to make sure there's something that can be done for them, especially over the winter. "For those companies who have built up a stock of smart prepayment customers I'm really hoping they are doing the data ana- lytics where they are able to spot rationing, self-disconnection, signs that people who are at home just aren't using the gas or, if it's an electrically heated home, electricity that you would expect people to be using over theƒwinter." Furthermore, Scorer would like to see more being done with debt repayment matching schemes. Speci€ cally, he believes there is scope for the government to match repayment through Fuel Direct, where utility payments are taken directly out of bene€ ts payments. Matthew Cole, chair, Fuel Bank Foundation Matthew Cole, chair of trustees at the Fuel Bank Foundation, believes energy compa- nies must seek out other organisations and not try and do all the work themselves. Cole previously worked as head of vul- nerability at Npower, which created a part- nership with Macmillan that saw the cancer charity o ering advice to customers with cancer who are also struggling with their energy bills. He says: "For energy companies it's about working in those places where people are most likely to go to, making sure services and propositions you o er to support people are available through those organisationsƒtoo. "We talk a lot about signposting. For me it's about more than signposting, it's making sure that energy companies invest in com- munity-based organisations, or organisa- tions that have a presence in the community at least, and use those to get to those people who are hard to engage with and hard to reach." "My call for energy companies is – do not try and do everything yourself. Think about the partnerships you could create and develop and how those partners can help you get services to people who need them", he adds. Adam John, reporter "We need to tackle and remove the communication barriers between water companies and the communities they serve to ensure everyone is aware of the support that exists and how to access it." Janine Shackleton, policy manager, CCW "I still see too much requirement for customers to be the ones to approach suppliers for support." Adam Scorer, chief executive, National Energy Action

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