UK Water Deregulation Is In Chaos-FACT Enough Is Enough Some Water Retail Firms Should Have Licences Suspended Right Now.

April of this year the doors to water deregulation were thrust open and having spent over 30 years in the water industry this was for me personally was a very exciting time.

Having built a successful Water & Waste Water cost reduction business H2o Building Services

Supported by a loyal and professional team And accumulated a vast amount of knowledge and expertise along the way with an enviable track record of performance and delivery we could at last expand our business as the water industry was now being promoted and brought into sharp focus like never before.

Ideas I had over 20 years ago for setting up an unregulated water company providing water to customers at a 20%-30% discount could now be implemented, our services and top draw expertise would grow in demand and we could take on more staff and grow the business yes thats all happening the water industry is buzzing with activity all fine and dandy you would think?

Within weeks announcements were made that a merger between the two giants of the water industry United Utilities and Severn Trent Water were getting together to form Water Plus, what is this competition?

Not in my book anyway it went ahead all the same as water deregulation grew with more and more players joining the water market then within months cracks started to appear in the service delivery of some water retailers,

Water billing errors, no bills for some clients for months, red reminder and water disconnection letters appearing, yet no bills sent out in the first place, balances carried forwards incorrect, waste water charges incorrect, written complaints not be sorted, money leaving client accounts without first recieving water bills, water bills diverted to random addresses in Europe!

Our Water Bill Validation team reported a steady trickle at first, billing issues were followed up direct with the water retailers, one hour on hold waiting for a customer service operator was becoming the norm.

No replies to Emails "nose to the grindstone guys crack on it will get better" I said, we have written and verbal assurances from the sales director we are working hard behind the scenes things will improve come and visit our offices and meet the team and see how hard we are working.

7 months later CHAOS.

Billing errors continue, 7 months later after the same numerous bills returned the water company unable to bill correctly

We are recieving red reminders and demands for payments for water bills NOT originally sent out to customers a steady trickle now a flood, action taken by the bill validation team,

Water retailer contacted, on hold for 30 minutes the customer service person as you have numerous billing issues I can only deal with one at a time you will have to call back again with the other issue as the call volumes are so big we have not got time to sort your billing issues all at once you need to send an Email So far 15 red reminder/demands for payments and the water company have admitted they know about it but do not know which water bills have been sent and which bills have not.

The official line is "They advise they are having billing issues and some bills were not issued yet they manage to issue final reminders"

This has now of course triggered numerous calls to the water company.

As the situation with one water company has gone on for 7 months I wrote to the water company boss and a senior director asking them to intervene do you think they replied back?

If after 7 months a water retailer has that many billing issues still mainly unresolved and more issues arriving almost daily then their water retail licence should be suspended pending a full independent investigation instigated by the regulator OFWAT.

My concern is that there are potentially thousands of customers who are in reciept of incorrect water bills they are about to pay or indeed have paid potentially massive overcharging and these customers may never identify the overcharging and the water company as history has shown will not audit the water bills and ensure bills are correct that is apparently up to the customer and therefore the customers will remain overcharged until, if or when a water audit expert audits the bills and identifies the overcharging and claims back a rebate.

As well as billing issues another sharp practise has reared its ugly head,

6 month billing in advance!

Its seems a Scottish based water retailer is now imposing payments in advance of supply, we are recieving bills for water and waste water charges 6 months in advance based on estimated meter readings these bills are being sent to ALL customers starting with those in Thames Water region yes you read it right 6 months in advance!

When these bills were queried by our bill validation team we were told,

They are allowed to charge for services in advance, our team requested a copy of the water supply terms by Email to date nothing no reply.

The implications of billing tens of thousands of customers 6 months are massive the company concerned does NOT have the right to impose advance payments to all its customers perhaps they are having cash flow problems?

The water retailer was called by me personally the first 4 attempts to call averaging 55 minutes on hold 54 in the queue!

When eventually I did get through they admitted they could not impose 6 month advance billing and promptly credited all of the accounts.

So if there are any Ex Thames Water customers reading this post check your water bills for 6 month advance payments and overcharging.

Do we see improvements in the near future? no not any time soon and its the customers that will pay the price suffering more poor service , and incorrect billing,

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