Water UK response to Ofwat’s consultation on Guidelines for water companies in supporting residential customers pay their bill, access help and repay debts

We agree that it is sensible to periodically review Ofwat’s guidelines, and we share the overall aim that water companies are able to recover debt in the interest of all customers, while also dealing sensitively with customers who find themselves struggling to pay their bill.

We support Ofwat’s aspiration to move towards principles-based regulation in this area, but question whether the detailed prescriptive approach on minimum standards set out in the consultation is consistent with this aspiration, and indeed whether it could run directly counter to it.