agenda and papers – northern committee meeting

TWENTY FOURTH MEETING OF THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATER NORTHERN COMMITTEE

Thursday 29th September 2016 at 1.30pm

Venue: The Indus Room, Kala Sangam Arts Centre, Bradford, BD1 4TY

AGENDA 1. Chair’s Opening Remarks and Apologies for Absence (1.30pm) 2. Questions and Comments from Members of the Public (1.40pm) 3. Minutes of the Last Meeting (1.50pm) NRT/16/06 4. Matters Arising (1.55pm) NRT/16/07 5. CCWater Water Industry Complaints Report (2.00pm)

- Carl Pegg (Head of Consumer Relations, CCWater) 6. Complaints to CCWater - 2016/17 (2.30pm) NRT/16/08 7. Company Operational Reports (2.40pm) NRT/16/09 8. Any Other Business (3.25pm)

Close (3.30pm)

Page | 1

Consumer Council for Water Thursday 19 May 2016

Minutes of the Northern Committee Regional Meeting in Public 10.30AM Thursday, 19 May 2016 Seminar Suite, Teesside University, Darlington

Present:

Robert Light – Northern Committee Chair

Phil Marshall – Deputy Chief Executive

Bhupendra Mistry – Local Consumer Advocate (United Utilities)

Colin Wilkinson – Local Consumer Advocate (Northumbrian/Hartlepool Water)

Marc Bicknell – Local Consumer Advocate (Yorkshire Water)

Andrew White – Senior Policy Manager

Janine Shackleton – Policy Manager

Steve Grebby – Policy Manager

Laura Clougher – Consumer Relations Manager

Farah Hasson – Policy Support Officer

Attending:

Aimee Ambrose – Sheffield Hallam University

Kevin Ensell – Operations Manager - Hartlepool Water

Gary Cross - Operations Support Manager – Hartlepool Water

Claire Sharp – Customer Director – Northumbrian Water

Mark Wilkinson – Customer Collections Manager - Northumbrian Water

Gill Anderson – CCWater & Stakeholder Manager – United Utilities

Sally Ainsworth – Head of Customer Experience – United Utilities

Dean Stewart – Head of Household Retail – Yorkshire Water

Charlie Haysom – Director of Production- Yorkshire Water

Fiona Morris – North East Area Manager - Environment Agency

Mark McElvanney – StepChange Debt Charity Emma Metters – The Gateshead Housing Company Debra Tindle – The Gateshead Housing Company Lorraine Dobson – County Durham Housing Group Colin Stratton – Board Member – Pioneer Credit Union Kath Wall – Treasurer - Growing Older and Living in Darlington

1.0 Chair’s Opening Remarks and Apologies for Absence

1.1

1.2

Robert Light (The Chair) welcomed all attendees to the Northern Committee’s twenty third meeting in public. He emphasised the role of the Committee in addressing key issues in the water industry by creating a dialogue between water companies and consumers. Farah Hasson (FH) highlighted apologies received from Melissa Lockwood, Environment Agency and Gavin Coleman, Stockton and

Minutes of the Northern Committee Meeting in Public 19 May 2016

Page | 2

District Advice and Information Service. All apologies received are listed in Annex I.

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

Questions and Comments from Members of the Public FH summarised two queries received from local consumers prior to the meeting. The first was an enquiry on the reasons behind experiencing dry skin after a shower. The second was specific to a Northumbrian Water (NWL) customer who has faced an increase in his water bill despite modifying his water usage habits. Both cases will be addressed by Northumbrian Water’s customer care teams. CCWater will monitor to ensure the customers’ concerns are answered. Kath Wall (KW), Growing Older and Living in Darlington (GOLD), raised concerns about recent changes to Northumbrian Water’s process for setting direct debit payment plans which were resulting in some increases. Mark Wilkinson (MW), Northumbrian Water, agreed that the changes had caused some issues for customers which led to increases in customer contact. He agreed that a learning point for the company was to clearly explain future potential changes in advance of their implementation.

ACTION NWL/

CCWater

3.0

3.1

Minutes of the Last Meeting The Committee and attendees at the previous meeting in public on 26 November 2015 deemed the minutes as an accurate record. The minutes can be accessed in Agenda and Papers (pages 2-13).

4.0

4.1

Matters Arising Actions that emanated from the Committee’s previous meeting in November 2015 are summarised in paper NRT/16/02 which can be accessed in Agenda and Papers (page 14).

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

Speaking Up for and Informing Consumers The Chair welcomed Phil Marshall (PM), CCWater’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, to the meeting and invited him to provide the attendees with a brief overview of CCWater’s national work. PM highlighted CCWater’s role as the consumer body representing water and sewerage customers in England and Wales and emphasised speaking up for consumers as one of the organisation’s five strategic priorities. The others are ensuring good quality tap water, resilient sewerage systems, ‘right first time’ complaint handling and sound operational systems. Speaking up for consumers constitutes one third of CCWater’s business plan on a national level. This takes the form of consumer advocacy; consumer protection; promoting a better customer experience and better customer engagement; and supplying customers with information. This work is underpinned by our customer research.

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Agenda-and-Papers-–-Northern-Committee-Meeting-–-19-May-201.pdf



Page | 3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

5.9

5.10

5.11

6.0

6.1

6.2

A major role for CCWater nationally is to influence the agenda by engaging with the governments in England and Wales. Examples of engagement with governments include CCWater’s proactive stance in ensuring customer protection during the implementation of retail competition for non-household consumers in England and the organisation’s key role as a stakeholder in the Welsh Government’s Water Strategy. CCWater’s role is also to challenge on behalf of consumers – governments, regulators and companies. CCWater also represents consumers by working in partnership with water companies and with a range of other stakeholders, for example governments, regulators and debt charities. CCWater provides information to consumers directly through different channels including our website, media releases and increasingly through social media. Affordability is one of the top priority objectives for CCWater. We have worked with companies to ensure schemes are available for those who struggle to pay their bills. Colin Stratton, Pioneer Credit Union, asked for the definition of ‘vulnerable customer’ as agreed within the water industry and what should the customer do if he does not consider himself ‘vulnerable’. PM responded that the definition of vulnerability is not the same across the sector. There are different definitions used in legislation and by the regulator (Ofwat) for example; but the term is generally taken to involve both financial vulnerability and vulnerability in operational situations, such as during supply interruptions. Definitions now also tend to refer to the customer’s circumstances. He added that the challenge commonly faced by water companies and support agencies is identifying and targeting vulnerable customers and reaching out to them effectively to provide the required support. KW commented that an additional challenge to addressing vulnerability is that some customers do not consider themselves to be vulnerable. Affordability Assistance Research Presentation Aimee Ambrose – Sheffield Hallam University The Chair thanked Aimee Ambrose (AA) for attending the meeting to share the findings of the affordability assistance research with the attendees. AA presented key findings from the Affordability Assistance Research project commissioned to investigate what works within and beyond the water sector on how to use assistance initiatives effectively. The slides can be accessed online via Affordability Presentation.

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Affordability-Assistance-Initiatives-Research.pdf


Page | 4

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7

6.8

6.9

6.10

6.11

6.12

AA cited earlier research conducted by CCWater concluding that assistance schemes are not reached by those who need them. She also clarified that the findings shared today do not represent empirical evidence but are a review of the schemes that work effectively. The methods used in the affordability research include a systematic review of available evidence and consequential testing for relevance, rigour and robustness. The research highlighted face to face meetings with customers as good practice yet the researchers acknowledged the significant challenge in achieving this practice proficiently. Experimenting to see which avenue of sharing information works best for the particular customer base and utilising an array of mediums to reach to customers proved to be effective. Liaison with trusted partners also provided positive results as it makes use of agencies that are in more regular and frequent contact with the customer than the water company. Adopting a holistic approach by incorporating variable circumstantial vulnerability also produced good results when the approach is kept flexible and dynamic. AA provided the investigated initiatives that emerged from the energy sector which included taking advantage of the customer’s ‘moments of change’ to initiate a new relationship. The term ‘moments of change’ is used to refer to contact from a customer following a change in their circumstances, such as when moving house, which provides the water company with the opportunity of briefing the customer about available schemes and way of providing help. Another effective enterprise was the use of cascading training initiatives where formal training of one senior worker is used to facilitate the subsequent sharing of concepts and good practices with teams lower down within the company. This model was used in the Big Energy Saving Network. Examples of productive initiatives obtained from the housing sector involved routine, varied communication with the customer where negative events such as an expected rise in bills, as well as positive updates are shared with the customer to maintain an on-going relationship. The research also investigated an initiative adopted by the health sector where practitioners “make every contact count” with the patient. This can be transposed into the water sector by ensuring that the customer can access all available services by training as many company individuals as possible who are likely to come into contact with the customer.

http://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Living-with-water-poverty-in-2014-Report-of-research-findings.pdf


Page | 5

6.13

6.14

6.15

6.16

6.17

6.18

6.19

6.20

6.21

6.22

The research thus highlighted key strategic propositions for water companies to consider when working to improve affordability assistance. Strategic suggestions for more effective assistance schemes include on-going evaluation of the assistance schemes offered by every company to feed into a wider evidence base of good practice. The researchers recognise CCWater’s role in building links with third party partnerships and suggest formalising and extending joint working to offer a wider support to those who struggle to pay. For implementation on a water company level, findings from the research propose taking on the following initiatives: partnerships with third party agencies and the public sector, ensuring every contact with the customer counts and taking account of the customer’s moments of change. The full affordability assistance research report will be published in July 2016. Affordability Discussion Colin Wilkinson asked what would the most trusted third party agencies include. AA responded that the most trusted third party agencies are those who engage most frequently with consumers adding that local focus and customised outreach avenues are vital but focussing on the broader picture is also important. JS highlighted the aim of raising awareness on vulnerability is not to exclude certain individuals or label them but to ensure that they have access to all the available options. The Chair inquired if the research investigated sharing customer data to improve targeting. AA responded that focussing on welfare information is academically proven to exclude many other categories of vulnerable customers. So it is recommended to first confirm what details are required to provide a holistic picture of the customer’s circumstances and then approach those agencies which have regular contact with the customer, such as housing association. CS commented that consumers perceive their interaction with their water company to comprise solely of receiving a bill in a timely fashion. He suggested that this overall visibility be improved by obtaining consumers’ feedback through their interaction with different parts of the community. CS added that the onus of providing and delivering assistance remains primarily on the water company even when it’s working in partnership with others. AA emphasised that water companies are recommended to work with third party agencies rather than through them. KW remarked on the potential for extending assistance via an initiative similar to the Big Community Switch, implemented in Darlington in


Page | 6

6.23

7.0

7.1

7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

7.10

7.11

2015, where a group of energy customers were able to save on gas and electricity bills by collectively switching suppliers. Dean Stewart, Yorkshire Water, inquired whether the affordability assistance research evaluated customer acceptability of universal assistance, noting the recent trend in water companies tailoring their assistance schemes to better suit their customer base. AA responded that universal assistance was only one initiative in a myriad of options rather than being the only solution and acknowledged the various barriers to adopting such an initiative including low customer support. Good Practice in Delivering Affordability Assistance The Chair invited the regional water companies’ representatives to provide an update on their affordability assistance initiatives. Dean Stewart (DS) - Yorkshire Water (YKS) DS commented that providing a tailored service to customers starts with good customer service that facilitates the identification of who requires the support. YKS has established agreements with Credit Reference Agencies to better capture customers’ financial circumstances. The company has also created a system alert for its employees that is triggered when a customer likely to be on low income makes contacts with the company. This allows for offering the available assistance options during that same contact. YKS also has a live portal link with debt agencies that allows employees to verify customer debt details instantaneously. DS added that the company has improved its debt collection culture by offering all the options available during every collection. YKS has not had the expected results from collaborating with food banks but the company is working on improving this avenue of assistance. DS added that a learning lesson for the company is gauging whether training operational teams in affordability assistance could productively demonstrate the ‘every conversation counts’ concept. The main two challenges for YKS in implementing its assistance schemes have been to identify vulnerable customers at the earliest opportunity and to achieve the required customer acceptability levels of proposed social tariffs. For a full list of the company’s assistance schemes, please visit https://www.yorkshirewater.com/watersure. PM echoed the significance of capitalising on the contacts received for operational queries by training the appropriate teams accordingly. The Chair commented on the importance of making every conversation with customer as all-embracing as possible, considering recent

https://www.yorkshirewater.com/watersure


Page | 7

7.12

7.13

7.14

7.15

7.16

7.17

7.18

7.19

7.20

7.21

7.22

technological advances and their impact on interpersonal interactions. Sally Ainsworth (SA) – United Utilities (UU) SA highlighted the company’s Help to Pay scheme which is applicable to customers receiving pension credit and was initially promoted by liaising with housing landlords. Examples of UU’s partnership working include face to face engagement as well as co-branding with social housing through their social media and notice boards. UU’s initiative to identify customers who may require support through credit sharing agencies has resulted in 30% of approached customers opting into one of the company’s assistance programs. SA added that the company assesses the efficacy of its assistance schemes by quantifying the percentage of customers who were able to move on to regular billing and payments. The recent figure obtained by the company is that 75% of customers previously on an assistance scheme were able to progress to regular payments. SA emphasised including changes to physical abilities as well as language barriers as contributing factors to vulnerability. She added that UU is working with AgeUK and MacMillan to spread awareness about the Priority Services Scheme. UU’s main challenge in implementing assistance schemes has also revolved around receiving the required customer support. For a full list of the company’s assistance schemes, please visit: http://www.unitedutilities.com/difficulty-paying-bill.aspx. AW clarified that customer acceptability has been set as a requirement by the governments in England and Wales if the proposed assistance scheme is dependent upon receiving funds from the customers themselves. This can constrain the funding which is available to support customers. Mark Wilkinson (MW) – Northumbrian Water (NWL) MW stated that the company was unable to obtain customer support for a social tariff funded through bills. It had therefore introduced a scheme funded through debt cost savings. NWL is committed to training its employees on how to listen to customers and understand their circumstances and has conducted training sessions given directly by representatives of agencies like the Money Advice Trust. The company is currently undertaking research to make the best use of conversations with customers. The company will be sharing its research findings with community groups in events organised at the local level. NWL is also keen on accrediting the appropriate organisations, such as

http://www.unitedutilities.com/apply-for-help-to-pay-scheme.aspx

http://www.unitedutilities.com/Priorityservices.aspx

http://www.unitedutilities.com/difficulty-paying-bill.aspx


Page | 8

7.23

7.24

7.25

7.26

7.27

7.28

7.29

7.30

7.31

7.32

7.33

local authorities, to enable them to assist customers directly in addition to spreading awareness about available options of assistance. For a full list of the company’s assistance schemes, please visit: https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/your-account/Difficulty-paying.aspx CS commented that there might a communication barrier when customers contact company representatives directly even when attempting door to door visits. KW added that customers living alone, in particular, may find it difficult to interact face to face with company representatives. Lorraine Dobson (LD), County Durham Housing Group, asked the water companies if they have conducted any research tackling the effect of universal credit on running the company as a business. MW responded that NWL has not experienced universal credit in its full form yet but recognises the potential impact following the initial shock effect on the customers. AW observed that the introduction of universal credit presents an opportunity for water companies to re-frame their relationship with their customers. The recommendations arising from CCWater’s Living With Water Poverty project suggested helping customers through the process could be a catalyst in improving those relationships. Kevin Ensell (KE) – Hartlepool Water (HRT) KE stated that the company operates a local cash office and so has the opportunity for regular, direct face to face contact with many customers. HRT’s main challenge in implementing assistance schemes is the prevalence of low income families in its supply area. This was also a factor in customers being unwilling to provide funding for a social tariff scheme. The company tackles the challenge by offering tailored options to every customer based on their individual circumstances. KE added that company representatives undertake door to door visits to offer help on the spot or to refer the customer for a more in-depth appointment. Another challenge for the company has been barriers to sharing data on customer information especially when the data is available yet not shared. Mark McElvenny (MM), StepChange Debt Charity, remarked that the main struggle with offering help to customers is the lack of consistency in terms of the assistance available across different companies. He added that partnerships with water companies are not equally effective across the companies. PM invited MM to provide further details (at a later date) in order that CCWater can help ensure appropriate co-operation.

ACTION MM

https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/your-account/Difficulty-paying.aspx

https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/your-account/Difficulty-paying.aspx




Page | 9

7.34

7.35

7.36

7.37

7.38

7.39

7.40

8.0

8.1

8.2

8.3

LD asked what policies the water companies had in place for managing void properties and new tenants. KE responded that HRT inspects properties on a regular basis and if a customer leaves the property, the water supply is switched off to enable the new tenant to initiate contact with the company. KE confirmed that properties newly connected to the company’s water supply receive a welcome pack with information on assistance but will check if all new tenants at existing properties receive similar information. The Chair asked the housing representatives for their thoughts on what further liaison with water companies would be useful. LB responded that more joint working with water companies is needed as well as involvement with local schemes that may benefit customers. Bhupendra Mistry (BM) asked if County Durham Housing Group conducts cyclical customer consultations. LB confirmed that consultations with customers are informally on-going and all feedback is used in improving signposting to the appropriate agencies. LB added that the National Federation of Housing is a contact for future joint working and contribution towards the Annual Conference on Housing may be an avenue for sharing information on assistance schemes with customers and local community groups. Emma Metters (EM), Gateshead Housing Company, recommended collaborating with the Northern Benchmarking on Housing which covers certain areas in the North East. EM to liaise with NWL and CW on providing the contact information for future liaison. The Chair and AW thanked all attendees and AA for their contribution to the discussion. Company Operational Reports The Chair thanked the companies for providing the Committee with their reports on operational and quarterly performance. All reports can be accessed in Agenda and Papers (page 16-55). Hartlepool Water CW asked KE to elaborate about the main extension to Wynyard. KE updated the Committee that the project includes the addition of a new pumping station and reinforcing the strategic main to enable the company to close down the Amerston Hall Water Treatment Works (WTW) as required by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). The project is on target for completion in March 2017. KE added that the first stage of a water mains flushing plan was successful as part of a medium term plan to address the risk of discolouration in the areas highlighted by the DWI and were completed late April 2016.

ACTION KE

ACTION

EM



Page | 10

8.4

8.5

8.6

8.7

8.8

8.9

8.10

8.11

8.12

8.13

CW remarked that HRT is also on target to hand back the billing of its non-household sewerage charges to Northumbrian Water in September 2016. CCWater is facilitating an event with businesses in Hartlepool for HRT and NWL. Northumbrian Water CW commended NWL’s initiative in partnering with Groundwork North East thus allowing enrolled customers to save on water bills alongside energy bills. Claire Sharp (CS1) responded that it is one of the projects aimed at reaching out to customers who are hard to reach. MW added that combining water saving with energy savings is an example of compiled benefits of high impact on the customer. CW applauded the company’s receipt of the Innovation Award by the Institute of Water and asked CS1 to elaborate on the project’s success. CS1 stated that the award was for the company’s continuous work on partnerships, specifically on Fellgate Surface Water Management scheme in South Tyneside. CS1 expanded on two of the company’s initiatives in community engagement. NWL’s Water Rangers allows customers to be involved in the community by reporting operational problems to help reduce pollution incidents. The second was NWL’s Talking Water Cooler set up in Middlesbrough and Newcastle to promote the use of tap water for its quality, taste and value for money. CS inquired about using the term ‘unwanted contacts’ used in the company’s quarterly reports. CS1 explained that unwanted contacts include customer calls which could have been avoided if the information was provided proactively, as well as repeated customer contact on the same unresolved issue. The Chair inquired if NWL has undertaken any analysis to explain why the company has the highest water usage in the region. CS1 responded that NWL primarily promotes water efficiency in the South East region of its supply area but emphasis is also placed in the North East side. She added that she will check with the corresponding team to obtain more information on the high water usage figures. PM asked the water companies on the reasons behind the recent increase in the per capita consumption figures. All water company representatives agreed to check and return with information. United Utilities BM thanked UU for their continued liaison and comprehensive reports. He inquired about the main driver behind the company opting to implement automated billing by placing customers who cannot be metered on assessed water charges. SA responded that it was not a specific change in policy but the company aims to remove unnecessary customer effort where it is

ACTION CS1

ACTION Water

Companies

https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/environment/water-rangers.aspx

https://www.nwl.co.uk/media-centre/611_5514.aspx


Page | 11

8.14

8.15

8.16

8.17

8.18

8.19

8.20

8.21

8.22

definite that a meter cannot be fitted to the property. She added that it is mainly to streamline the process but the customer is still able to choose to remain on the rateable value tariff if they wish. BM queried what plans the company has in place to strengthen future resilience following the flood recovery efforts witnessed over the past winter. SA commented that several WTW in Cumbria were severely affected but are now in operational order. She added that the company is devising a working plan that incorporates communication with customers to keep them informed on the potential impacts in the region. FH asked the water companies if there are any future plans to initiate formal joint working between the companies in preparing for potential flooding events, similar to the initiative by the London and South East water companies in devising Water Resource Management Plans to prepare for water shortages in the region. The companies responded that no current plans are in place but the scope may arise in the future. Charlie Haysom (CH) expressed gratitude to NWL and UU on behalf of YKS for their assistance during the recent flooding response. CW commented that discussions on flooding from an engineering perspective are on-going by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). CS1 added that representatives from water companies have a role in several working groups initiated by WaterUK to look at cross-company collaboration and sewerage network improvements. The Chair commended the regional water companies for their flooding recovery response and asked if they have programs in place to ensure the new standard of recovery is achieved. SA confirmed such programs are in place in parallel with investigating further potential investments. CH remarked that the extensive damage to assets experienced in the past winter season place all companies at risk of being uninsured in the future and that asset protection from risk of flooding will receive high attention in the next Price Review (PR19). BM commended UU for their progress in reducing complaints about meter installation and asked if the company could elaborate on how that was achieved. SA responded it was due to a number of factors including close working with contractors and ensuring efficient fitting of meters. Yorkshire Water Marc Bicknell (MB) thanked YKS for their conclusive reporting and asked about the lessons learnt from the recent rise in incidents and the interruption to water supply in Pocklington.


Page | 12

8.23

8.24

8.25

8.26

8.27

8.28

8.29

8.30

8.31

CH responded that following recent flooding impacts, the company has concerns over maintaining a continuous water supply during the event and will be investigating ways to tackle that challenge. Regarding the Pocklington incident where customers in the surrounding area had no supply to water for several hours, CH remarked that the company was successful in returning water supply to customers by diverting the course of the river that constitutes the supply to the mains instead of digging down to the pipes. YKS is considering future investments to address cleaning sewers in new efficient methods. MB acknowledged the company’s efforts in community engagement during the odour incidents at Saltend and inquired on the current progress. CH responded that the Saltend odour issues began with unplanned anaerobic decomposition of wastewater. He confirmed that the complete Sewage Treatment Works has been re-engineered and the plant rebuilt. Furthermore, YKS has opened a drop-in centre for customers in the area most affected where the westerly wind exasperates the odour. He added that the town centre experiences worsened odour due to low flow which increases the odour due to infrastructure design. MB commended YKS on receiving the national Credit Today Utility and Telecoms award for best Vulnerable Support Team of the year. CH commented that it was the reflection of continuously using all available information to promote the appropriate support to the customer. MB asked if YKS could clarify the high customer contact numbers for the quarter. DS explained that the year to date figures were erroneously submitted instead of quarterly figures and that the company will send an updated report with the confirmed record. DS added that the YKS Customer Care team has been able implement benefits to the billing complaints by preventing reminders to pay being sent to customers who have already submitted payment and reducing the occurrence of repeat contacts overall. Steve Grebby (SG) asked how adopting 300 private pumping stations by YKS compare to its original adoption plans. CH commented that they had found fewer stations than anticipated (circa 2,000). However, those that they had found were in a much worse state of repair than expected. The overall costs involved in adopting pumping stations could therefore be higher than estimated. Other companies had also seen this outcome to their investigations. The Chair thanked all the water companies for submitting their operational and quarterly reports to the requested format and for their contribution to the discussion.

ACTION DS


Page | 13

9.0

9.1

9.2

9.3

9.4

10.0

10.1

10.2

10.3

10.4

11.0

11.1

11.2

Complaints to CCWater 2015-16 Laura Clougher (LC) - CCWater LC presented the total complaints received to CCWater from customers of the water companies in the Northern region in a report that can be accessed in Agenda and Papers (pages 56-61). LC remarked that the total complaints received are higher than last year’s figures for the same period primarily due to the flooding impact for UU and YKS customers and changes to billing of NWL customers. CW asked about the increase in total complaints received against NWL in contrast to the figures of the same period from last year. CS1 responded that the billing review mentioned earlier enabled the company to anticipate a rise in complaints. MW added that NWL did include a leaflet explaining the review in the new bills to customers. MB inquired about the 44% in billing and charges complaints to CCWater against YKS. DS responded that the company has seen a rising trend in written complaints regarding water quality as customers are not able to find the required information readily. DS commented it was not clear why more customers chose to complain to CCWater instead of YKS as the company has seen a steady downward trend in billing complaints. Environment Agency Report Fiona Morris (FM) – Area Environment Manager (Northumberland, Durham and Tees) FM presented a general environmental update for the North East in a report that can be accessed in Agenda and Papers (page 62). The Environment Agency (EA) is working closely with water companies on their proposals for the upcoming Price Review. The EA is involved in Ofwat’s tripartite review of environmental performance which includes resilience to future flooding events. The Chair commented on the EA being tasked with major investments towards flood defences. FM responded that the EA has experienced good engagement across the companies and added that lack of funding makes partnership working the most effective way of producing long lasting results. AOB CS1 inquired if CCWater’s research of customer perceptions of household competition has been concluded and if an update could be shared. PM responded that findings would be published shortly. SG added that publication of CCWater’s annual tracking survey, Water Matters, will be delayed until the end of June due to the European referendum. However, individual company reports will be shared with



http://www.ccwater.org.uk/blog/2016/05/20/household-support-for-water-competition-hinges-on-bill-savings/


Page | 14

11.3

companies on an “in confidence” basis in early June. The Chair thanked all attendees for their contribution and invited them to the Northern Committee meeting and joint stakeholder event in Bradford on 29 September 2016.


Page | 15

Annex I Apologies Received Accent North East Maxine Aveyard Suzanne Whitehead Coast and Country Keeley Oliver Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Sarah Glendinning Darlington Council Natasha Telfer Drinking Water Inspectorate Jacky Atkinson Environment Agency Melissa Lockwood Stockton and District Advice Gavin Coleman and Information Service Howard Garnet

of 2

ITEM 4 NRT/16/07

Matters Arising

4.1 Northumbrian Water agreed to respond to issues raised by two customers (2.1)

The company has advised skin dryness is most likely to be due to a particular soap or nickel fittings which can cause skin irritation for some people. A water sample has been offered.

The company has been able to provide the customer with a 50% tariff reduction via its SupportPLUS tariff.

4.2 Mark McElvenny (MM), StepChange Debt Charity, agreed to provide

details relating to his observation that the charity’s relationship wasn’t currently equally effective across all companies. (7.33)

StepChange provided this information. CCWater is taking account of this

in its work with companies. 4.3 KE confirmed that properties newly connected to the company’s water

supply receive a welcome pack with information on assistance but will check if all new tenants at existing properties receive similar information. (7.35)

The company is asked to clarify this point at the meeting. 4.4 Emma Metters (EM), Gateshead Housing Company, recommended

collaborating with the Northern Benchmarking on Housing which covers certain areas in the North East. EM to liaise with NWL and CW on providing the contact information for future liaison. (7.39)

An update will be provided at the meeting.

4.5 NWL agreed to provide further information to explain why the

company has the highest (per capita) water usage in the Northern region. (8.10)

The company is asked to provide details of any further analysis it

has undertaken. 4.6 PM asked the water companies on the reasons behind the recent

increase in the per capita consumption figures. All water company representatives agreed to check and return with information. (8.11)

of 2

Yorkshire Water has provided the following feedback: “There is no material difference between the per capita consumption

reported in 2014/15 and 2015/16. A number of factors influence the reported number, including weather patterns and changes to the number of new properties and meter optants. None of these factors have changed significantly, hence the minor change in PCC. We are of course continuing to promote water efficiency.”

NWL has provided the following feedback:

“We've recently standardised the approach to calculating the water

balance for unmeasured household customers across NW and Essex & Suffolk Water. In the NW region, something known as the Hawthorn effect was never allowed for - the effect is about people who know their water use is being monitored slightly changing their behaviour and good practice adds a % onto the derived unmeasured consumption to account for this. For 2015/16, this resulted in around a 4 l/h/d being added. We've also been cleaning up our property database ahead of retail competition and a number of properties previously classified as non-household have been reclassified as households (predominantly flats). So taking these two factors into account, the annual variation is within our expectations.”

The other companies are asked to provide a response at the

meeting. 4.7 MB asked if YKS could clarify the high customer contact numbers for

the quarter. DS explained that the year to date figures were erroneously submitted instead of quarterly figures and that the company will send an updated report with the confirmed record. (8.28)

The company subsequently provided this information (attached).

NRT1607 Matters Arising - Annex

NOTES:

Connected properties (as at 31 March) Water only Sewerage

only

Water and

sewerage

Total

Household 130,717 128,079 1,985,523 2,244,319

Non-household 9,606 0 139,144 148,750

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year to date

Unwanted telephone contacts 219,120 203,741 44,265 47,154 44,400 49,698 185,517

Written complaints (including email) 9,003 7,228 1,853 2,427 1,862 2,062 8,204

Household 1,628 2,228 1,670 1,839 7,365

Non-household 225 199 192 223 839

2nd level written complaints 661 549 110 149 109 129 497

Household 97 137 91 116 441

Non-household 13 12 18 13 56

CCWater investigations 2 0 1 0 0 0 1

Household 1 0 0 0 1


Quantitative SIM Score37 38 24 24 21 23 21

Qualitative SIM Score45 47 63 62 63 65 63

TOTAL SIM Score 82 85 86 86 84 82 83

Supporting comments:

Service Incentive Mechanism 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

REPORT TO THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATERCOMPANY NAME: Yorkshire Water

Northern COMMITTEE

PERIOD: January - March 2015-16

DISCLAIMER: The data presented in this report has not been subject to external review. CCWater respects the nature of the data provided

and that the data presented may be revised as a result of companies' internal audit processes.

1. Information about connected properties is to be reported annually (as of 31 March).

2. Any 'annual' figures refer to the financial year (April - March).

3. Year to date (YTD) figures refer to the cumulative figure up to the end of the quarter when the information is requested.


1. Customer Experience

1.1 Service Incentive Mechanism



Charging and billing 4,791 3,698 912 938 781 892 3,523

Household 823 823

Non-household 69 69

Water service 1,447 1,266 393 545 400 396 1,734

Household 326 326

Non-household 70 70

Sewerage service 1,446 1,347 353 734 472 600 2,159

Household 523 523

Non-household 77 77

Metering 421 296 60 63 62 50 235

Household 46 46

Non-household 4 4

Other service issues 898 621 135 147 147 124 553

Household 121 121

Non-household 3 3

Total number of complaints (including

email)9,003 7,228 1,853 2,427 1,862 2,062 8,204

Household 1,628 2,228 1,670 1,839 7,365

Non-household 225 199 192 223 839

Total number of complaints per 10,000

connections38 30 8 10 8 9 34

Household 7 10 7 8 33



1.2 Written Complaints

Categories of written complaints 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16


Total

Total number of metered customers on

WaterSure (or non-statutory equivalent

in Wales)

5,079 5,760 6,158

Medical reasons 2,288 2,665 2,920

Family criteria 2,791 3,095 3,238

Where applicable - number of

customers receiving assistance from

other company tariffs (cost neutral or

customer funded) and a breakdown as

appropriate

Resolve -

4212

Community

Trust - 1966

Resolve -

5,524

Community

Trust - 2,224

Resolve -

5,000

Community

Trust - 2,166

Total number of customers on Water

Direct38,904 36,196 36,843

Total number of customers on Special

Assistance Register30,817 35,009 37,670

April - Sept Oct - Mar

Actual number of properties on the

register at the start of the period204 173 201

Total number of properties removed

from the register 108 3 2

Total number of properties added to

the register77 31 3

Number of properties left on the

register at the end of the period173 201 202

Number of properties that have

received mitigation measures in the

reporting period

3 1 5

Number of properties that have actually

flooded in the reporting period 446 471 457378

0.57%


2. Levels of Service Indicators

2.1 Sewer Flooding (not applicable for water only companies)

Sewer flooding: Internal 1 in 10 and 2

in 10 register

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

227

77

54

204

2

1.3 Vulnerable Customers

Vulnerable customers (as at 31 March) 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16% of household metered

properties



Actual external areas at the start of the

period1,988 2,305 2,380

Total number of external areas

removed from the register13 0 3

Total number of areas added to the

register 330 75 58

Number of areas left on the register at

the end of the period 2,305 2,380 2,435

Number of areas which have received

mitigation measures in the reporting

period

15 1 1

Number of areas which have actually

flooded in the reporting period 3,704 3,079 3,534

Total (Ml/d) 282 288

Distribution input (Ml/d) 1,241 1,246

2.2 Leakage

Leakage 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16


290 291.30

1,256 1,244


3,536

Sewer flooding: External 1 in 10 and 2

in 10

2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

1,865

28

151

1,988

2


Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Actual - number of hours lost due to

water supply interruptions for three

hours or longer per property served

(hours/property)

0.17 0.16 0.02 0.09 0.17 0.21

Metered (billed) customers 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Household (%) 45.20% 47.10% 49.00%

Universal metering programme target

(%) (where applicable)0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Non-household (%) 86.30% 87.30% 86.80%

Household water demand (pcc) 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Measured (litres per person per day) 107.60 105.00 107.60

Unmeasured (litres per person per day) 155.91 153.00 153.90

Average (per person per day) 136.20 133.00 133.40

2.4 Metering


2.5 Water demand


Supply interruptions 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Year to date

Supporting comments: Our quarterly number is the year to date position at that time.

2.3 Supply Interruptions

1

Northern Region Complaints

September 2016

2

Commentary

1st April 2016 – 31 July 2016

Pleasing in first four months of year, there have been no investigations for any of the

Northern Region Water Companies.

United Utilities have seen a decrease of 40 complaints compared to same period last year. Top three categories of complaints: Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) 36 Debt Recovery 27 Surface Water/Highways Drainage 21 Another high category seems to be: Incorrect Account Information. 15 7 complaints had exhausted company’s complaints process and this compared favourably with 44 previous year. Across the Northern Region United Utilities have a larger number of cases going to Stage 1 & Stage 2 of the Complaint processes. A high volume of 221 complaints dealt with by Consumer Council for Water have been dealt with as Direct Replies which means these have not been referred for United Utilities to deal with. We are also dealing with a high level of Enquires of 339. A breakdown has been provided for ease of reference.

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pensionsjobs.com/getasset/d702d298-2b4d-4fcd-80b3-54f142a3bbfc/&imgrefurl=http://www.pensionsjobs.com/employer/13062/united-utilities/&docid=c6oTb-VstQgxoM&tbnid=-xB9NPVhD8B9hM:&w=360&h=180&bih=958&biw=1680&ved=0ahUKEwiZ98qKr83OAhUEXhoKHWbODfoQMwhPKBgwGA&iact=mrc&uact=8

3

Yorkshire Water has seen an increase of 41 complaints compared to same period last year.

Top three categories of complaints: Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) 13 Debt Recovery 10 Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) 9 Another high category seems to be: Size of Rateable Value. Only 1 complaint had exhausted company’s complaints process and this compared favourably with 20 previous year. Across the Northern Region Yorkshire Water have a reasonable number of cases going to Stage 1 & Stage 2 of the Complaint processes. 121 complaints dealt with by Consumer Council for Water have been dealt with as Direct Replies which means these have not been referred for Yorkshire Water to deal with. We also dealt with a high level of Enquiries of 235. A breakdown has been provided for ease of reference.

Northumbrian Water has seen an increase of 7 complaints compared to same period last

year.

Top three categories of complaints: Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) 9 Failure to Respond to Query/Complaint 5 Size of Rateable Value 5 Only 4 complaints had exhausted company’s complaints process and this compared favourably with 14 previous year.

https://www.yorkshirewater.com/

https://www.nwl.co.uk/your-home.aspx

4

Across the Northern Region Northumbrian Water have a low number of cases going to Stage 1 and no complaints Stage 2 of the Complaint processes. 53 complaints dealt with by Consumer Council for Water have been dealt with as Direct Replies which means these have not been referred for Northumbrian Water to deal with. We also dealt with a low level of Enquiries of 118. A breakdown has been provided for ease of reference.

Hartlepool Water has seen an increase of 1 complaint compared to same period last year.

Three complaints handled: Affordability 1 Measured Billing Error 1 Low Pressure 1 These were all dealt with as Direct Replies and there was no referrals made to Hartlepool

Water.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiD9dTgr83OAhUBnxQKHZqwCIoQjRwIBw&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartlepool_Water&psig=AFQjCNHvthD69ZVs3xFrnHq_ipBlz4-OPQ&ust=1471692451195547

5

Complaints Handled by CCW

1 April 2016 – 31 July 2016

Complaints per 10,000 connections

Apr May June July Total

United Utilities 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 1.0

Yorkshire Water 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.7

Northumbrian Water 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.5

Hartlepool Water 0 0.5 0.2 0 0.7

UU YKS NW HPL

Overall Complaints Closed 325 172 68 3

Stage 1 Complaints 60 34 11 0

Stage 2 Complaints 30 11 0 0

Company Procedure Exhausted 7 1 4 0

Investigation 0 0 0 0

Referral CCWater (Ofwat) 7 5 0 0

CCW Formal Reviews 0 0 0 0

Direct Replies 221 121 53 3

Enquiries 339 235 118 1

Number of Investigations

(1 April 2016 - 31 July 2016 UU YKS NW HPL

2016 0 0 0 0

2015 4 1 0 0

2014 2 0 1 0

2013 0 1 0 0

6

No of Complaints Handled by CCWater

Apr May Jun Jul Total

2016 92 95 72 66 325

2015 112 85 87 81 365

2014 94 74 94 122 384

2013 107 100 98 98 403


2016 16 11 19 9 55

2015 16 17 20 8 61

2014 8 14 15 17 54

2013 24 24 22 24 94


2016 0 2 1 0 3

2015 1 0 0 1 2

2014 1 1 1 0 3

2013 0 0 1 3 4


2016 50 39 43 40 172

2015 31 32 33 35 131

2014 38 29 28 45 140

2013 40 45 41 40 166





7

Apr May Jun Jul Total 2015/2016

% Difference

Water Supply 16 13 6 15 50 42 19.05%

Sewerage 7 5 13 6 31 21 47.62%

Billing & Charges 54 55 35 39 183 226 19.03%

Metering 6 9 8 3 26 33 21.21%

Administration 6 13 8 3 30 36 16.67%

Other 3 0 2 0 5 7 28.55%

Totals 92 95 72 66 325 365 10.96%

Apr May Jun Jul Total 2015/2016 %

Difference

Water Supply 9 11 10 9 39 34 14.71%

Sewerage 7 10 8 10 35 38 7.89%

Billing & Charges 28 14 17 13 72 42 71.43%

Metering 3 4 5 2 14 7 100.00%

Administration 2 0 3 5 10 8 25.00%

Other 1 0 0 1 2 2 0.00%

Totals 50 39 43 40 172 131 31.30%

Apr May Jun Jul Total 2015/2016 %

Difference

Water Supply 2 4 4 2 12 12 0.00%

Sewerage 2 1 0 0 3 6 50.00%

Billing & Charges 10 11 13 4 38 30 26.67%

Metering 2 0 0 1 3 5 40.00%

Administration 0 7 1 1 9 6 50.00%

Other 0 1 1 1 3 2 50.00%

Totals 16 24 19 9 68 61 11.48%




8

Apr May Jun Jul Total 2015/2016

Water Supply 0 1 0 0 1 2

Sewerage 0 0 0 0 0 0

Billing & Charges 0 1 1 0 2 0

Metering 0 0 0 0 0 0

Administration 0 0 0 0 0 0

Other 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 0 2 1 0 3 2

Regional Complaints Comparison Handled by CCWater per 10,000 connections

1 April 2016 – 31 July 2016


9

Complaints Received by Categories

1 April 2016 – 31 July 2016

Appendix 1 – United Utilities Appendix 2 – Yorkshire Water

Appendix 3 – Northumbrian Water Appendix 4 – Hartlepool Water

Direct Replies Handled by Categories 1 April 2016 – 31 July 2016

Appendix 5 – United Utilities Appendix 6 – Yorkshire Water

Appendix 7 – Northumbrian Water

Appendix 1

Administration

Failure in Ex-gratia Payment 1

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint 6

Incorrect Account information 15

Quality Of Advice 3

Refunds 4

Telephone System 1

Billing & Charges

Affordability 10

Assessed Measured Charges 3

Backdated Charges 4

Billing Information / Literature 2

Billing Methods 7

Debt Recovery 27

Disconnection 1

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) 36

Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) 4

Disputed Meter Reading 2

Estimated Billing 3

Increase in Charges 9

Infrastructure Charges 1

Leakage Allowance

Legal Fees 1

Measured Billing Error 5

Payment Arrangement 8

Payment Methods 4

Site Area Charging 2

Size of Rateable Value (RV) 11

Standing Charges 5


Appendix 1

Surface Water / Highways Drainage 21

Tariff Structure 4

Unmeasured Billing Error 3

Use of Assessed Charge 1

Use of RV for Charging Purposes 4

Vulnerable Customers 2

Metering Access / Maintenance / Replacement

1

Accuracy and Testing 1

Compulsory Metering 3

Information to Customer 2

Installation Location 5

Installation Quality 2

Installation Time 3

Other (Metering) 4

Reversion to Unmeasured 5

Other

Environmental 1

Other 2

Water Resale 2

Water Resale

Sewerage

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) 3

Delay in Clean up Service 2


Delay in Repair (Infrastructure) 2

Disputed Liability for Repair 2

External Flooding Only 10

Internal and External Flooding 5


Appendix 1

Internal Flooding Only 4

Loss of Facility (No Actual Flooding) 1

New Sewers / Connections

Odour (Infrastructure)

Water

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) 4

Delay in Repair (Pipework) 6

Discolouration 1

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) 3

Disputed Repair Costs (Pipework) 1

Flooding by Clean Water 4

Interruption - Notification 4

Interruption - Restoration 1

Low Pressure 11

New Supply / Connection 3

Other (Pipework) 4

Other (Quality) 5

Stop Taps 1

Taste / Odour 2


Appendix 2

Administration

Attitude of Staff 1

Failure to Receive Information 1



Missed Appointments 1

Quality Of Advice 2

Billing & Charges

Affordability 3


Backdated Charges 1

Billing Information / Literature 1

Billing Methods 2

Debt Recovery 10

Disconnection 1


Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) 3

Disputed Meter Reading 1

Estimated Billing 2


Leakage Allowance 2



Payment Methods 3



Tariff Structure 1

Unmeasured Billing Error 1


Appendix 2


Vulnerable Customers 1

Metering

Accuracy and Testing 2

Compulsory Metering 3

Information to Customer 2

Installation Location 2

Installation Quality 1

Installation Time 2

Other (Metering) 1


Other

Other 2

Sewerage

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) 3


Delay in Repair (Infrastructure) 6

Disputed Liability for Repair 4

Disputed Repair Costs (Infrastructure) 1

External Flooding Only 7



New Sewers / Connections 1

Odour (Infrastructure) 1

Soakaways 1

Water

Boil Water notice 1



Discolouration 4


Appendix 2


Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework)

Disputed Repair Costs (Pipework) 2

Flooding by Clean Water 5

High Pressure/ Pressure Surge 1

Interruption - Restoration 1

Low Pressure 5


Other (Pipework) 2

Stop Taps 1


Appendix 3

Administration


Inabilty to Contact Correct Staff 1


Quality Of Advice 1

Telephone System 1

Billing & Charges

Affordability 2

Affordability


Backdated Charges 1

Billing Methods 2

Billing Methods

Debt Recovery 4

Debt Recovery

Debt Recovery

Debt Recovery


Estimated Billing 1


Leakage Allowance 2

Leakage Allowance


Measured Billing Error

Meter Reading Frequency 1



Size of Rateable Value (RV)





Appendix 3

Standing Charges 3



Use of RV for Charging Purposes 1

Metering

Installation Costs 1

Installation Time 1


Other

Environmental 1

Other 1

Water Resale 1

Sewerage



Odour (Sewage Treatment) 1

Water



Discolouration 1




Interruption - Notification 1

Low Pressure 2

Low Pressure 1


Other (Pipework) 1

Taste / Odour 1

Appendix 4 is included in report


Appendix 3


APPENDIX 5

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC not happy with response to complaint from UU

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC - customer unable to sort account to be billed UU not helping

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint SCC- DR wants to know if companies should share sewage maps

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC - Customer did not receive a response within 4 weeks

Incorrect Account information CC - Ongoing account issues

Incorrect Account information SCC property has commercial and domestic charges - told the commercial should be refunded

Incorrect Account information CC- Multiple issues with bills

Incorrect Account information CC DR-thinks should be charged as residential rather than commercial

Incorrect Account information CC-bill in wrong name

Incorrect Account information SCC- Late father paying for incorrect meter

Incorrect Account information CC - Customer bills should be capped due to condtion UU not updated acc

Incorrect Account information CC-CCJ applied in error

Incorrect Account information CC beleives name shouldn't be on UU account

Incorrect Account information CC - cust keeps getign incorrect bills for last 18 month

Incorrect Account information CC told account closed in January now in arrears

Quality Of Advice CC - Unhappy with explanation of water rates for shop and flat.

Quality Of Advice SCC - Customer given wrong information, UU will not refund customer

Quality Of Advice Complaint United Utilities

Refunds CC - customer cheque stopped, UU will not explain this

Telephone System CC - not happy cannot get through

Affordability CC - Customer cannot pay lump sum, UU wont allow him to have payment plan

Affordability CC - customer unable to pay amount of charges

Affordability CC - can not afford bill

Affordability CC - Unhappy that UU are taking too much money from benefits

Affordability SCC - Unsure why her metered water bills are so high.

Assessed Measured Charges CC - Cust wants rebate for single occupancy AVC

Assessed Measured Charges CC - after 2 meter surveys customer still not put on AVC

Backdated Charges CC - wants backdate money back before she went on assessed charge

Backdated Charges CC- Never received a bill until last year for converted flat

Backdated Charges CC- Being asked to pay for charges that were not asked for previously

Backdated Charges CC- unhappy she has not been billed for waste water

Billing Information / Literature CC has several questions about her bill that UU can't or won't answer

Billing Methods AWAITING TPC- SCC- Unhappy being charged on meter. Wants to go back to RV as prev residents didn't ask for meter

Billing Methods CC - Submeter for farm next should be deducted from customer's bill and is not

Billing Methods cc- unhappy with being billed for next finacial year

Billing Methods SCC - Customer unhappy that meter reading card not collected

Billing Methods SCC DR-regarding SWD information on CCW website

Debt Recovery CC-has High Court sheriff attending today

Debt Recovery CC- rec'd bill for 2015 but she sold property in 2009

Debt Recovery CC UU won't let her set up a payment plan for arrears

Debt Recovery CC- disputing bill unhappy with debt recovery

Debt Recovery CC- Chased for £16'000 bill. Unable to locate leak

Debt Recovery CC - UU makes threat of legal action few weeks after issuing the bill

Debt Recovery CC - Account passed to DCA, cust was not aware of that

Debt Recovery CC - Cust receiving final notices but not the bills

Debt Recovery CC - closed account with oustanding balance on, should have been cleared, threats of DCA

Debt Recovery SCC - DR Being pursued for money not yet owed

Debt Recovery CC thinks his metered bills are too high

Debt Recovery MORE INFO & TPC REQ CC- Threatened with court action. Never received reminders

Debt Recovery CC - Debt recovery action taken customer cannot pay outstanding balance

Debt Recovery CC doesn't know why getting debt recovery letter

Debt Recovery CC UU cancelled his payment plan now sent him CCJ

Debt Recovery CC wants to know period debt relates to

Direct Replies

Administration

Billing & Charges

Page 1 of 4


Debt Recovery CC UU are saying that they haven't rec'd

Debt Recovery CC- Mother passed away unhappy solicitors sent letter from UU demanding payment

Debt Recovery CC - Chased for full payment despite having a standing order.

Debt Recovery CC - Unhappy at demand for payment

Debt Recovery CC - UU taken customer to Court over money owed on a empty house, his previous address

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) 7/6 TPC SENT -CC - customer bill too high

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Customer received a high bill and thinks there is a possible faulty meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- High bill for 3 people, ongoing issues with meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- unhappy bill has doubled due to faulty meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- 3 day period of extremely high usage

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- high bill of £700 for quartley

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC pays £2000 a year for water for family of 5

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- bill gone up by £6.50, UU not helpful

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) SCC - Unhappy about high bill for trade effluence in result of clean water leak

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) SCC - Unhappy with high bill

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Very high bills, believes the meter is faulty

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - leak on property caused £17,000 bill

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Meter capturing her & neighbour's usage

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Being pursued for debt not owed

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Several incorrect bilsl rec'd unsure if this is rectfiied now

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- informed UU meter faulty, UU have sent new bill after 1 year

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Being pursued for a debt that was not in

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Rec'd bill for entire caravan park despite not being landlord.

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC not happy that don't use any water but being charged a lot of money

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) High bills for years- want's meter removed.

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC not happy with fact he has to have meter that was there when he moved in

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) Compliant regarding high bills for multiple customers.

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Unhappy with high bill

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC BLANKET - Disputing higher bills

Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) SCC - Wants to pay based on usage

Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) CC- disputing high bill and delay in repair of leak unmetered

Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) MORE INFO REQ CC- Unhappy how much previously charged not on meter

Disputed Liability (Unmeasured) CC- not responsibile for the water supply, received letter and bill saying owes balance

Disputed Meter Reading CC - Believes meter is faulty as bills increased greatly.

Estimated Billing CC-unhappy high bill, estimated readings

Estimated Billing CC - Not happy customer's final bill was estimated

Increase in Charges CC- Charges customer previously paid still showing on bills

Increase in Charges SCC - increase in price and fracking

Increase in Charges Customer unhappy over increase in charges.

Infrastructure Charges Customer unhappy that UU's Sewerage charges were 200% higher than her clean water charge.

Leakage Allowance CC - Leak allowance not credited

Legal Fees CC - Court action following non-payment of bill he wasn't aware of.

Measured Billing Error CC - Customer was paying for neighbours water supply also

Measured Billing Error CC - Customer rec'd high bill found out billed on incorrect meter

Payment Arrangement CC DR - Customer would like reduction in her bills due to 'pension changes'

Payment Arrangement CC- Not sure how what is correct balance on the bill

Payment Arrangement CC- Customer disputing final bill from previous address

Payment Arrangement CC Customer in financial difficulties

Payment Arrangement CC not happy that has to pay neighbour for water and gets billed by UU

Payment Methods CC - customer DD was set up 3 times no money taken no rec'd huge bill

Payment Methods CC - Unhappy with DD system

Site Area Charging SCC - Charged for more SWD than the size of the land.

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC DR- Unhappy with how much charged on RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC review not happy with size of RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC-Unhappy with size of RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC DR - Not happy with high RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC not happy that differnet RVs mean different bills

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC- Unhappy with level of RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Co sent bill with very high RV charges for small shop

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Customer unhappy with RV and wants to take it further

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - charges have reduced last 2 years not sure why

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC- Customer unhappy with size of RV

Page 2 of 4

Standing Charges SCC - Customer has problems with billing

Standing Charges CC - Standing Charges too high

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC DR not happy with SWD charges in a flat

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC - unhappy with not receiving rebate

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC - only small amount of staff in office but high consumption and surface water drainage

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC- Customer not happy about SWD and HD charge higher than his water use

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC- Unhappy with Surface water survey

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC not happy with changes to way his SWD charges calculated

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC- DR/ - highway drainage, explaniation about Highway drainage

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC not happy with Stage 1 response

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC DR - rebate for wrong banding given only until April 2016

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC- pays a building service charge for office to cover water/waste etc but is still being charged seperatly for SW/HD for the office

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC- Unhappy with surface water rebate

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC- Charges for surfacewater/highwaydrainage

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC - Disputing SWD charges

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC - Customer wants to know if UU take full liability for all rain water

Tariff Structure CC-Bill is too high for the AHC listed on website

Tariff Structure CC asked how to get on watersure

Tariff Structure SCC-unhappy that he is being cahregd business rates

Tariff Structure CC- wants single occupier discount- unmeasured

Unmeasured Billing Error SCC- Sewerage charges increase - bulk meter

Unmeasured Billing Error CC - customer billed on RV when they have a meter

Use of Assessed Charge CC- company want to change charging from

Use of RV for Charging Purposes CC- RV. Why no allowance for single people

Use of RV for Charging Purposes CC - unhappy can't get single occupancy allowance on RV

Use of RV for Charging Purposes CC DR not happy with RV bill

Vulnerable Customers SCC - Cannot have meter installed due to disability

Vulnerable Customers CC- Customer has always been on WS, UU made an error and took her off, now recieved high bill

Access / Maintenance / Replacement Customer unhappy over increase in bills.

Accuracy and Testing CC-Bills doubled meter needle spins when stopcock off

Compulsory Metering SCC - Unhappy at being told meter installation is compulsory

Compulsory Metering CC - customer asked for new supply & comp meter to be fitted

Compulsory Metering CC - customer unhappy with Comp metering. Apply for new supply

Installation Location CC: Poor service and meter location

Installation Location SCC- Charged for meter move

Installation Location SCC wants to know where meter is located

Installation Time CC- delay in having meter fitted, no explanation as to why!

Other (Metering) SCC-wants to take meter out of new property and change supplier

Other (Metering) SCC - sub-metering

Other (Metering) MORE INFO NEEDED: CC - Customer believes meter is faulty and also wants it moved

Other (Metering) CC - Not happy that meter being replaced by smart meter

Reversion to Unmeasured CC DR- Dont want meter installed was informed no meter at property when purchased

Reversion to Unmeasured CC - customer does not want meter as fearful it will cost too much

Reversion to Unmeasured CC-unhappy cannot revert to RV

Reversion to Unmeasured CC- Customer said his bill is much higher than his previous property, wants meter removed

Other SCC - Customer wants to know if UU are subject to the bills of exchange act 1882

Other Csutomer unable to make a complaint due to incorrect number.

Water Resale CC- customer is being billed very highly for a small leased office , by the UU, who bill NHS and city Council

Water Resale SCC - Water resale

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) REVERT SCC - Works carried out to driveway without notification.

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) SCC - Issues with drain made worse by engineer visits.

Delay in Repair (Infrastructure) SCC- Delay in repair of shared sewer collapse at rear of commercial premises

Delay in Repair (Infrastructure) SCC REVIEW feels should be given more compensation following works outside house

Disputed Liability for Repair SCC wants to know who responsible for unblocking sewers

External Flooding Only 7/6 TPC-SCC-pipe burst not fixed by UU which has washed away hardcore under property

External Flooding Only MORE INFO REQ'D-SCC DR-legal responsibility of company requested

External Flooding Only SCC DR - sewer collapse that caused sewage to spill on field

External Flooding Only SCC- flooded by waste water, UU not taking responsiabilty

External Flooding Only SCC -dispute over responsibility for fixing re-occuring flooding issue

Metering

Other

Sewerage

Page 3 of 4

External Flooding Only SCC - damage after the flooding incident

Internal and External Flooding SCC - Ongoing issues with flooding from drain in front of house.

Internal and External Flooding SCC - Water not draining properly, flooding houses and gardens

Internal and External Flooding SCC not happy with clean up after flooding

Internal and External Flooding SCC- unhappy with level of compensation for sewerage flood

Internal Flooding Only SCC - cust flooded sewerage but the co not coming to clean it promptly

Internal Flooding Only SCC - Ongoing flooding problems

Internal Flooding Only SCC - customer flooded with sewage UU not attended

Internal Flooding Only SCC - customer flooded with sewage UU not attended

New Sewers / Connections SCC - neighbour was allowed to tap into cust private sewer by the company

Odour (Infrastructure) SCC - Strong sewage odour in garden due to neighbour breaking a sewer pipe

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) SCC - Works carried out to driveway without notification

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) SCC - Loss of Profit due to road closure

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC - Leak possibly underneath new driveway, UU aware for 12 months.

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC - Customer reported leak 1 month ago still not fixed

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC- unhappy with delay in new pipework

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC - delay in attending to repair leak

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC- Leak under neighbours property

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC not happy with time taken to repair a leak

Discolouration SCC wasn't told about a burst, was advised to drink but made wife ill

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC DR - Disputed liability for repair of the leak on supply pipe

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC-defective pipework has lef to rat infestation at pub

Disputed Repair Costs (Pipework) SCC thinks UU should have notifed him of leak at property

Flooding by Clean Water SCC- Burst caused damage. UU refusing claim

Flooding by Clean Water SCC - Unhappy at compensation offer for damaged property

Flooding by Clean Water SCC - neighbours leak flooded and damaged the property

Interruption - Notification CC - Loss of supply due to a burst

Interruption - Notification SCC- Water has been cut off without warning customer lives on a working farm thinks UU have done it on purpose

Interruption - Notification SCC - Loss of supply to business property

Interruption - Restoration SCC - Customer supply affected due to leak.

Low Pressure SCC Low Water Pressure

Low Pressure SCC - Low pressure for a long period not being rectifed

Low Pressure MORE INFO- low water pressure

Low Pressure SCC- Unhappy as leak at neighbours property causing low pressure

Low Pressure SCC- low pressure due to damage cuased by UU

Low Pressure SCC - Customer has very low water pressure

Low Pressure SCC- Unhappy

New Supply / Connection SCC- customer wants new supplu

New Supply / Connection SCC - long delays in new connection causing signficant extra costs

New Supply / Connection SCC - Paid for new connection, now told they won't connect up.

Other (Pipework) SCC - customer has meter on shared supply

Other (Pipework) SCC - wanted to know if there is legal requirment to confirm where assets are located

Other (Pipework) SCC - Customer unhappy that a neighbour who is building has damaged his pipe

Other (Quality) SCC-concerns over bacterial outbreak in water 1 year ago

Stop Taps SCC not happy with time taken to resight stop tap

Taste / Odour SCC - Dirty drinking water

Taste / Odour SCC - Contaminated water problem not resolved quick enough

Water

Page 4 of 4

APPENDIX 6

Failure to Receive Information CC- Customer told to have fixed rate or pay £350 for meter

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC - Company ignoring that it's not customer's side that's leaking

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC-social tariffs not explained or allowed to speak to manager

Incorrect Account information BLANK - CC STG1 B - Unhappy that the co ignored mistakes on the bills for 2 years

Missed Apointments CC- unhappy with 3 missed appointment, delay in rerpair and poor service not knowing what they are doing!

Quality Of Advice SCC DR wants to know what payments are for and if YW will be paying to clear up after leak

Quality Of Advice CC- Closed circuit television cameras pointing at his property

Assessed Measured Charges CC- unhappy with assessed charge

Assessed Measured Charges SCC thinks should get backdated AHC applied to account

Backdated Charges CC-Charges for garage and workshop that has been disconnected

Billing Methods SCC - Customer unhappy with billing discrepancies

Debt Recovery CC-disputing bill for room rented in 2012-landlord should have paid

Debt Recovery CC Chased for debt but says he spoke to YW about being in hospital

Debt Recovery CC not happy with GoG offered for registering incorrect info

Debt Recovery CC- chased for debt carried forward from old address

Debt Recovery CC - Customer has received a CCJ letter and very upset about this

Debt Recovery CC - Court action with no prior notice

Debt Recovery CC- Yorkshire Water showing negative account on cresdit reference

Debt Recovery CC - CCJ wrongly placed on account

Debt Recovery CC- Making payments but still showing late payments on credit file.

Disconnection CC - Will be disconnected if doesn't pay several thousand pounds.

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Disputing size of metered bill

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Disputing size of metered bill

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- unhappy with high bill, leak on YW side

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - excess consumption registered on meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Disputing billing amount

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Disputing his water usage

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - customer away 6 months a yr water still going through meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Unhappy with increase in bills

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - hairdresser and flat on same supply

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC beleives water usage it too high

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Unexplained high consumption at business premises

Disputed Meter Reading CC no response when emailing meter reading

Estimated Billing CC not happy with her bill increasing year on year after a meter exchange

Estimated Billing CC - Meter stopped working, received bill based on previous usage.

Increase in Charges CC- Unhappy with increase in water bills

Increase in Charges SCC DR- Customer unhappy that RV bill has risen more than inflation

Increase in Charges CC - Unhappy at increased charges

Leakage Allowance CC- unhappy YW do not grant him burst allowence for very high bill

Measured Billing Error CC thinks his bill has been calculated incorrectly

Measured Billing Error CC - does not believe that he is using this level of water

Measured Billing Error CC hasn't had 50% reduction as promised

Payment Arrangement CC - unhappy to pay £100 charge for something he doesnt know what it is

Payment Methods SCC Review- Unhappy direct debit payments not being taken

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - RV customer wanted backdate refund for years of overpaying

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC - DR RV incorrectly calculated

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC-unhappy with RV compared to neighbours

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC- Unhappy with neighbour paying less

Direct Replies

Administration

Billing and Charges

Page 1 of 3


Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Customer unhappy with high bill and would like Yorkshire Water to reduce this

Size of Rateable Value (RV) SCC - Customer unhappy with size of RV

Size of Rateable Value (RV) Yorkshire Water

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Customer unhappy with how high RV was compared to AHC wants refund

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC-Wants SWD back dated, has been told he cannot have it back

Surface Water / Highways Drainage CC - Information on location of soakaway

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC- not happy with rebate of SWD

Use of Assessed Charge CC - Unhappy at level of Assessed Charge

Vulnerable Customers CC- not happy with criteria for watersure application, also high bill

Accuracy and Testing CC-Bills risen from between £1400-£1800 to ££9988.55

Accuracy and Testing CC - Wants meter removed due to possible leak

Compulsory Metering CC- can meter be removed, moved into property few days ago

Compulsory Metering CC- moved into property cant remove meter

Compulsory Metering CC - customers moved into new property, wants meter removed

Information to Customer CC belevies she was never informed about having a meter on her bill

Information to Customer CC-unhappy having a meter

Installation Location SCC is in a wheel chair and can't access property due to location of water meter

Installation Location CC- Cannot read meter as 4 feet underground

Installation Quality MORE INFO REQ SCC - Contaminated water has affected boiler and toilet

Installation Time CC-3 months to fit meter is excessive-and unhappy cant switch supplier

Installation Time CC - Customer has been trying to get a meter istalled for 3 years!

Other (Metering) CC - location of meter is on 3rd party land. customer wants it moved to her property

Reversion to Unmeasured CC - Wants to have meter removed and pay by RV instead.

Other SCC- Hydrant left up and neighbour hurt as couldnt see it at night YW not investigating

Other SCC- Unhappy with sewer treatment works adoption

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) Yorkshire water complaint

Damage Disruption by Work (Infrastruct) SCC- Drain blocked at boundry due to work by Yorkshire Water

Delay in Repair (Infrastructure) CC - issue with blockage in toilet due to block in pipework outside

Disputed Liability for Repair SCC - querying whther damaged SWD pipe is YW responsibilty to repair

Disputed Liability for Repair SCC not happy that YW won't take over a shared drainage system

Disputed Liability for Repair SCC- blocked sewer due to neighbours tree roots

Disputed Repair Costs (Infrastructure) SCC- Doesnt hink he should be paying infrastructure charges for his restored factory

External Flooding Only SCC- Sewage flooding into customers front of house and drive

External Flooding Only SCC - Repeated flooding from sewerage

Internal and External Flooding SCC - customer has been flooded twice in last year

Internal and External Flooding SCC - Compensation/reimbursement for years of damage to drive and property.

Internal and External Flooding SCC - Customer has been flooded ext and in for second time

Internal Flooding Only SCC- delayed repair to sewer

Internal Flooding Only REVERT - SCC - sewerage pipe burst in cellar

Internal Flooding Only SCC - BLANKET Drain blockage causing flooding to property

Internal Flooding Only SCC - Internal raw sewerage flooding

New Sewers / Connections SCC - Company refusing new connection for swd

Odour (Infrastructure) SCC - Constant smell in toilet due to drain issue not being addressed

Soakaways CC - enquiry regarding rebate

Boil Water notice MORE INFO REQ CC not happy with aftermath of boil water notice *THORNE*

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) SCC- Compensation claim against Yorkshire Water not enough compensation for 8 day disruption!

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) SCC - Garden subsided following reinstatement by contractors, only offering short guarantee.

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC - Customer unhappy that Yorkshire Water have not filled in a hole outside his property

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC-leak in pipework, YW fixed now they sayng customer responibilty

Discolouration SCC - Discoloured water

Discolouration SCC REVIEW - Unhappy with co reply on water quality issue

Discolouration SCC - Dirty water from taps, made customer sick for 5 years

Water

Metering

Other

Sewerage

Page 2 of 3

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC DR neighbour damaged mains pipe and YW won't help .

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC not happy that YW told himt o find and fix a leak on a long supply pipe

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) CC STG 1 OPS - Customer feels that YW should put new supplies into property

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC-dispute over who is responsible for leak repairs

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC-YW are responsiable for leak at main road which they do not repair

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC wants YW to take over responsibility of a water pipe that runs through several fields

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC - Believes YW caused a leak when fitting meter.

Disputed Repair Costs (Pipework) CC - Unhappy at cost of the work to repair leak

Flooding by Clean Water SCC - Water coming up through that floor

Flooding by Clean Water SCC - leak in cellar caused damage to property

Flooding by Clean Water SCC - customer cellar flooded due to meter coming off mains pipe.. still not rectified correctly

High Pressure/ Pressure Surge SCC - High pressure

Interruption - Restoration CC STG 1 OPS - Had no water fro 27 hours following repair of leak

Low Pressure SCC not happy with low pressure, thinks YW should do more

Low Pressure SCC-low water pressure since meter fitted

Low Pressure SCC - Low pressure

New Supply / Connection SCC - unhappy that co refuses to exchange lead supply pipe for free

New Supply / Connection MORE INFO REQ SCC not happy that property developer migh cut off water

Other (Pipework) SCC- Pipework moved from public to private land by Yorkshire water

Other (Pipework) SCC-paid for water and sewerage pipes diversion and cannot get breakdown

Stop Taps SCC - Neighbour put a stop tap on shared supply following leak

Page 3 of 3

APPENDIX 7

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC data protection/client confidentiality

Failure to Respond to Query /Complaint CC- No explanation of bill

Inabilty to Contact Correct Staff CC- Unhappy NW not picking up call seevral times called them

Incorrect Account information CC - Says he is not responsible for her previous house shared water bill

Quality Of Advice CC not happy his bank details were sent in the post to him

Telephone System CC - cust cannot get through to speak about her bill

Affordability CC - Customer unable to afford his bills

Affordability CC - why is she paying £3,000 for water

Assessed Measured Charges MORE INFO NEEDED- CC - customer unhappy with AHC and looming court action

Backdated Charges MORE INFO-CC- unhappy with receiving a bill after 17 years

Billing Methods SCC-unhappy with charges awaiting RV from valuation office

Debt Recovery CC - court action taken after customer contacted company for help

Debt Recovery CC- bill paid but rec'd debt recovery notice

Debt Recovery CC - customer has got default she believes she should not have

Debt Recovery Company chasing landlord for payment for property occupy by tenant

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Unhappy being billed for neighbours meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - Not happy with high bills, had been charged on wrong meter

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC- Unhappy metered bills increased. Can't afford to check for leak

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) SCC Feels his bills are too high for two people in home

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC not happy with wrongly linked meter serial number

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) MORE INFO CC - Bill has increased nearly threefold since living alone.

Disputed Liability (Measured Billing) CC - wanted a payment plan set up

Estimated Billing CC - Cust unhappy with estimated bill

Leakage Allowance CC High bills and asking if NW will give a leakage allowance

Leakage Allowance CC asking if NNE will give a leakage allowance

Measured Billing Error CC- Customer receiving letters and bills for a meter that is not his

Measured Billing Error CC- Customers is paying for her meter and is also connected to her neighbours

Payment Arrangement CC - Customer payments changed from 12 months to 10 months

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Customer unhappy with RV changes and how NW have dealt with it

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC-RV too high and cannot afford her monthly payments

Size of Rateable Value (RV) CC - Customer getting anywhere with NW no hlep offered

Size of Rateable Value (RV) MORE INFO CC - High RV and delay in fitting meter.

Standing Charges SCC - unhappy about the amount she is paying in standing charges

Standing Charges CC not happy with Standing Charges

Surface Water / Highways Drainage SCC-dispute over commercial SWD rebate

Use of Assessed Charge SCC - Wants meter installed as AMC unfairly high

Use of RV for Charging Purposes CC-unhappy with RV for 1 bed flat

Installation Time CC- Quality of service, poor communication of staff and delay in having meter installed

Reversion to Unmeasured SCC REVIEW - Customer would like water meter removed 21/4

Water Resale SCC - water resale questions and no answer from NNE

Internal and External Flooding SCC - Company not admitting liability for flooding

Internal Flooding Only SCC told that flooding was n't NNE's reswponsibilty but works have been carried out to top it

Odour (Sewage Treatment) SCC sewage smells caused by private pumping station

Damage Disruption by Work (Pipework) SCC - Telephone wires damaged during pipework installation.

Delay in Repair (Pipework) SCC Northumbrian Water say they can't access property to carry out work

Discolouration SCC - brown water which has damaged bath, NW will not rectify

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC-leak at shop disputes liability as it is the meter

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC - Leak on pipe underneath housing estate

Disputed Liability for Repair (Pipework) SCC - Leak on pipe underneath housing estate

Interruption - Notification SCC- Unhappy with not being told supply would be interupted

Low Pressure SCC - poor water pressure for years

Low Pressure SCC customer had low pressure and no water

Other (Pipework) SCC REVIEW - pipe responsibility and meter location, conflicting info given

Direct Replies


Operational Report to the Consumer Council for Water, Northern Region Report No 28: August 2016.

Introduction Following guidance on the new CC Water reporting requirements, this report provides a simple

narrative to support the quarterly performance report attached for the period ending June

2016.

Household & Retail Services Customer Service

The year to date figures (trending for the whole year) contributing to SIM scores are as

follows:

Percentage unwanted calls again reduced marginally

The new qualitative SIM survey score was significantly increased on the prior year at

4.96 and contributed positively to the overall AWS business score

The quantitative SIM score has significantly increased in Q1 compared to the 2015/16.

Combined SIM score was up from 90 to 92.50 continuing a positive contribution to the

AWS business score

Written complaints have significantly increased compared with prior years at 51 in Q1

of which 2 were second stage complaints, compared with 123 in 2015/16 and 120 in

2014/15 complaints in previous years.

Billing Issues Household Customers are very much business as usual with no specific issues. The main focus

currently is preparation for the Non-Household retail/wholesale separation with data migration,

data cleansing and transfer occupying a large amount of resource.

Charging Issues

Survey work has been completed regarding LITE, a social tariff in Hartlepool. The survey was

conducted in May and the tariff has been accepted, providing up to 80% discount to eligible

customers. We continue to liaise with the CAB to understand where this will be managed.

Affordability

No changes to the small business and flexible approach in delivering a customer centric

service. See charging section above.

Debt Management

No issues to report that affects our approach to or our success in the management of debt Vulnerability

We continue to work closely with the local agencies to support those who are vulnerable in our

community through the “Careline” offering and have improved the way we plan work on the

network to take account of vulnerable customers. The “Careline” register continues to be

actively promoted.

Metering

After a reduction in the number of optant applications received last year compared with prior

years, the number of optants seen post annual billing has continued with a small uplift. Meters

continue to be promoted with customers around debt should customer circumstances suggest

that a meter will be beneficial for customer bills.

Wholesale Services Water Quality

During Q1&2 of calendar year 2016, we recorded the following key outputs:

Overall Mean Zonal compliance 100%

Process Control Index 100%

Disinfection Control Index 100%

Distribution Maintenance Index 100%

Mean Zonal Compliance for Iron 100%

Reservoir Integrity Index 100%

Water Quality Complaint rate 1.50 per 1000 connections (6 Months Data)

Customer contact rate discolouration 0.92 per 1000 connections (6 Months Data)

The contact rate for both overall water quality complaints and discolouration contacts are

falling significantly compared with the prior year (4.16 & 2.90 respectively).

There have been 4 events notified to the DWI to date in 2016. Of these 2 were classified as

significant and 2 were minor.

Progress continues on the two Notices that were received from DWI during 2015 relating to the

need to abandon Amerston WTW’s and to reduce the risk of discolouration within the network.

Progress against these Notices is on target. This work together with changes to the leadership

and approach to work planning in the network maintenance team has continued the material

improvements in contact rates from last year in the first quarter of the report year to end June

16.

Water Resources

There are no issues to report on the availability of resources. We continue to work closely with

the EA and Coal Authority to manage the risks from mine water ingress in the Magnesian

Limestone Aquifer.

Wastewater Operations & Network

Not applicable

Sewer Flooding

Not applicable

Pollution

There are no reported pollution events arising from operations to treat or distribute water

supplies

Other

Investment: The project to reinforce supplies to the Wynyard area is due to start early

September in order to meet the March 2017 date and abandon Amerston Hall WTW. A

separate project to remove manganese at Dalton Piercy WTW is currently in the detailed

stages of design with construction expected to commence within the financial year.

Water Risk Assessments: there are no material changes to risk as part of the monthly

Regulation 28 process to meet DWI requirements. These are now managed centrally.

Interruptions to Supply: as a key ODI measure for the business, actions taken to

improve the leadership and work planning processes within the network maintenance team

from September 2015 had a material positive impact on interruptions to supply

performance. The average number of minutes interrupted for customers remains leading,

currently at 0.04 minutes per property.

Weather: there have been no weather related events that have impacted materially on

operations.

K J Ensell

Strategic Water Operations Manager

Hartlepool Water

August 2016.

NOTES:


only

Water and

sewerage

Total

Household 42,191 0 0 42,191

Non-household 2,469 0 0 2,469

Total 44,660

Q1 HH only Q2 HH only Q3 HH

only

Q4 Year to date

Unwanted telephone contacts 2,458 1,865 431 431

Written complaints (including email) 120 123 51 51

Household 110 111 45 45

Non-household 9 12 6 6

2nd level written complaints 4 4 2 2

Household 4 4 2 2


CCWater investigations 0 0 0 0

Household 0 0 0 0


Quantitative SIM Score78 67 24.01 24.01

Qualitative SIM Score4.80 4.59 4.96 4.96

TOTAL SIM Score91 90 92.50 92.50

2015-16

REPORT TO THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATERCOMPANY NAME: HARTLEPOOL WATER

NORTHERN COMMITTEE

PERIOD: APRIL - JUNE 2016-17




Service Incentive Mechanism

DISCLAIMER: The data presented in this report has not been subject to external review. CCWater respects the nature of the data

provided and that the data presented may be revised as a result of companies' internal audit processes.




2016-172014-15


Page 1 of 5


Charging and billing 78 69 32 32

Household 72 66 30 30


Water service 14 41 14 14



Sewerage service 0 0 1 1

Household 0 0 1 1


Metering 1 1 0 0

Household 1 1 0 0


Other service issues 27 11 4 4

Household 26 9 2 2



email)120 123 51 51

Household 113 111 45 45



connections27 28 11 11



2015-2016


Categories of written complaints 2014-15


2016-17

Page 2 of 5

Total



in Wales)

90 94 96

Medical reasons 44 42 44

Family criteria 46 52 52

Where applicable - number of customers

receiving assistance from other

company tariffs (cost neutral or


appropriate


Direct1,726 1,593 1,586


Assistance Register595 585 590

2014-15 2016-17

<1%

2015-16Vulnerable customers (as at 31 March)


Supporting comments: Figures are up to end of Qtr 1 2016-17

% of household metered

properties

Page 3 of 5

Total (Ml/d) 4.00 4.42

Distribution input (Ml/d) 31.000 32.300

2014-15 2015-16

April - Sept

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Oct - Mar

2.2 Leakage



Leakage 2016-17

Page 4 of 5

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4




(hours/property)

0.0808 0.0383 0.0000 0.0000


Household (%) 34.3% 35.2% N/A


(%) (where applicable)NA NA N/A

Non-household (%) 73.0% 74.0% N/A


Measured (litres per person per day) 107.15 124.75 N/A

Unmeasured (litres per person per day) 132.66 130.27 N/A

Average (per person per day) 119.91 127.51 N/A


Supporting comments: To be submitted end Q4 2016-17

Year to date2014-15 2015-16


2.4 Metering

2.5 Water demand

Supporting comments: Quarterly numbers input are not cumulative

Supply interruptions 2016-17

Page 5 of 5

CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATER NORTHERN REPORT

1. HOUSEHOLD AND BUSINESS RETAIL SERVICES 1.1 Customer service

1.1.1 We have received the results of the first customer satisfaction survey for 2016/17. This was for all inbound contacts received w/c 13 June 2016. Our score for this survey was 4.50, which is the highest score we have achieved since the launch of the new format last year. The individual scores were a billing score of 4.52, a clean water score of 4.33 and a wastewater score of 4.63. Our overall score of 4.50 ranks Northumbrian Water 3

rd

out of the 10 WASC’s.

Written complaints are up 36% compared to last year and the majority of this contact is related to billing queries. We feel that customers are scrutinising their bills more than ever before and the spike in complaints coincided with the Martin Lewis programme in November regarding water bills and meters.

1.1.2 Customer Research and Engagement We are further developing our approach towards customer research and engagement, in particular focusing on innovative ways of carrying out economic research (such as alternatives to willingness to pay studies), as well as exploring how we can best triangulate the results of all the research and other data we have. Our approach for holding continuous conversations with our customers has been refined and we will be on the road with our mobile customer engagement hub in October. We are currently recruiting a Customer Engagement Manager, who will be responsible for the management and co-ordination of our hub. This new role will facilitate the delivery of continuous conversations with our customers and stakeholders, on ‘their turf’.

1.2 Billing Issues

The bill re-design project is progressing well. We have carried out customer focus groups to gain feedback on our new proposed designs with positive results. CCWater have also provided feedback. We are currently carrying out technical testing of some new requirements from our billing system. We expect the new bill designs to be launched later this year.

1.3 Charging Issues

In preparation for retail competition, each water and sewerage company must bill non-household customers for the services they provide. We are currently working with Thames Water to transfer back their non-household metered customers so they can bill sewerage charges directly from October 2016. We are also working with Hartlepool Water / Anglian Water to start billing our non-household customers in their supply area for sewerage charges from October 2016.

1.4 Affordability

The promotion of our services to customers in financial difficulty is continuing to build momentum. The third parties and outreach organisations that we work with all report that customer contact is increasing. In particular, our SupportPLUS Schemes are accepting an average of ten customers per day who are benefiting from the various options available. Challenges remain in encouraging our customers to get third party help in the early stages. However, our automated engagement process has helped engagement and our referrals to StepChange still remain high. To the end of July 2016 we had 1,845 customers receiving a reduced bill from our SupportPLUS tariff. Of these 1,845 customers 529 are also receiving help from our SupportPLUS arrears

scheme. In addition to these customers a further 82 customers are paying normal annual charges but benefiting from our SupportPLUS arrears scheme. In total 1,927 customers are benefiting from our SupportPLUS schemes.

1.5 Debt Management

We have been working with the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM), the leader in expertise for all credit and collections matters, to further upskill our collections team who are working towards a Level 3 qualification in Credit Management. Additionally, we have created a steering group through the CICM working alongside credit managers from national organisations to develop a bespoke practical training day that will help those who are handling calls from customers in vulnerable circumstances. The training brings together all key elements required to prepare advisors for effectively handling calls in these circumstances.

Our income collection performance remains on target at 98.5%

1.6 Vulnerability

We are endeavouring to ensure all customers who are identified as vulnerable, whatever their situation, are offered the support they need from us. This includes recognising temporary vulnerability as a result of a life changing event such as divorce or bereavement, which can impact on finances and mental health. Our Vulnerability Strategy is currently under development and includes research with customers and stakeholders to gain insight into their awareness of our current support provisions and identify possible areas for improvement. Our partners at Infrastructure North have shared the Ofgem Priority Service Register (PSR) codes and we have agreed to align our Extra Care Instructions/Services with this list. We intend to do the work prior to the Extra Care data migration to our new billing and contact system (CC&B) which will enable us to be consistent when recording information about our mutual customers moving forward. We have received guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office about data sharing between organisations and we are continuing to work together to develop a process. Customers registered for Extra Care (North) = 14,183

1.7 Metering

Meter coverage in our Northumbrian region is currently 36.3% for household customers and 97.7% for non-household customers. As of 1 August we have 442,032 measured properties in the Northern Region. For the full year 2015/16 we installed 19,279 meter optants. In 2016/17 to date, 5,873 domestic meter optants have been installed. A further 1,433 have been installed in non-household properties. Following the closure of our billing agreement with Tristar Homes, who provide social housing for circa 10,000 properties in the Stockton area, we promoted metering as a way customers could save money. This has generated over 1,000 applications from customers.

1.8 Other

1.8.1 Business Transformation Programme The ONCE Transformation Programme to deliver our new Oracle Customer Care & Billing System and Genesys Customer Experience Platform continues to progress. Testing is well underway for the wholesale business and this will continue into shadow operations which start in October 2016. Household design is

progressing well and building has commenced for the areas which have been approved by the business. Protocall One has been appointed as our partner to deliver the Customer Experience Platform and design sprints are in progress over the next eight weeks.

2. WHOLESALE SERVICES 2.1 Water quality

2.1.1 In 2016 we have reported three Category 2 events and one Category 3 event; two relate to ‘do not use’ notices issued to single or small groups of properties and are linked to fuel oil/diesel contamination. No new events have been notified to the DWI since May 2016 (effectively since the previous report).

Overall water quality remains at a consistent level of 99.907% and has been most significantly influenced by 4 nickel failures at customer taps. We are seeing an improved performance in the number of discolouration contacts which are continuing to reduce. Coliform performance remains good. There have been two coliform failures in 2016. On 4 January 2016 a sample from Trimdon Service Reservoir (SR) failed; all samples taken during the investigation were satisfactory On 16 June 2016 a sample from Wear Valley Water Treatment Works (WTW) failed. Extensive re-samples were collected on 17 & 18 June from the WTW, from SR’s and customer properties. All re-samples taken 17 June 2016 were satisfactory for coliforms, however the repeat re-sample taken at St. John Chapel SR on 18 June 2016 detected 1 presumptive Coliform in 100 mls of sample. Further bacteriological re-samples were arranged at each stage of the treatment process at Wear Valley treatment works, triple bacteriological analysis samples from points on the distribution network and samples were taken from customer taps (including two customer taps supplied by St. Johns Chapel). All samples were microbiologically satisfactory.

2.2 Water Resources

Although we experienced a very wet start to the year with January’s rainfall being 180% of the long term average (LTA), the following five months were below average. As a result the majority of our reservoirs have been below their average levels for much of the spring and summer. This does not cause any concern as we are supporting reservoirs as necessary from the Kielder transfer scheme.

2.3 Waste water operations and network

2.3.1 Sewage treatment

There have been two look up table failures reported up to the end of June 2016.

Browney STW is currently non compliant with look-up-table conditions for suspended solids. An investigation has been undertaken within the sewerage catchment and at the treatment works. Catchment quality issues have been flagged although we do not have any firm evidence to demonstrate that this is the reason for individual failures. The initial exceeding result was as a consequence of knock on implications from a third party electrical power issue. We are hoping to have this exceedance removed which will move the site back into compliance.

At Fishburn STW we experienced an upper tier exceedance of permit standards. After intensive investigations in the catchment, a non-compliant trade source has been identified and is considered to be the reason for the sample result. A report has been compiled and submitted to the EA to remove this failing result from our record. We are awaiting their formal response to this request.

2.4 Sewer flooding Following on from our strong internal sewer flooding performance in the previous year, we have seen a further reduction in internal, external and repeat flooding incidents across our network in 2015-16. Dwaine Pipe is the character which leads our ‘Love Your Drain’ campaign, an innovate and fun way to educate, inform and engage our customers. Our research shows that in the first 36 months of the campaign, total blockages were reduced by over 15%.

The Dwaine Pipe smart phone game app – Dwaine Dash – has now been officially launched to employees and customers and has had over 2,000 downloads. SmoothFM are helping us launch our game which will help educate customers that only ‘toilet paper, pee and poo go down the loo’. Competition to be top of the leaderboard has been fiercely contested. The game provides a fun way to get our message across.

Events are being held across the Northumbrian area at shopping centres throughout August to further promote the game and this is linked with a competition on social media with prizes for high scores. A ten second game play and download information screenshot movie is featuring on three cinema screens as well as on digital display boards which will be placed at key locations during the Great North Run in September. Additionally, Dwaine will appear on two large screen LED adverts, one over the main route through Newcastle City Centre and another outside The Centre for Life. Other advertising has been placed in high footfall areas throughout August and September and includes metro carriages, platforms and elevators, washrooms in the Metro Centre and also on the sides of buses.

We also have two innovative new forms of advertising at Newcastle International Airport which started in June and will run through to the end of October. The Dwaine Dash advert is on a large light box outside the arrivals exit tunnel and Dwaine is on nine pillar wraps in the baggage reclaim area.

Dwaine has been out and about a lot over the past few months with the Capital Radio team. He has been to the Sunderland International Airshow and in Stanley, which is one of our blockage hot spot areas, at three family fun days and an armed forces tribute day. At all of these events we have used our newest investment – the Dwaine Pipe Whirlwind Inflatable game (images attached). People stand inside the inflatable and people have to catch as many ‘good guys’ bits of paper (paper, pee and poo) and miss the ‘bad guys’ (medicine, nappies and teddy bears) which are blown around them. This has proved hugely popular at events with queues forming every time!

The animation – Dwaine’s bad day – is on ITV during the day (off peak) for two weeks in August and it is estimated it will be seen by over two million people.

We are continuing to work in collaboration with other stakeholders such as local authorities and the Environment Agency to promote partnership schemes that will reduce both current and future flood risk and deliver wider benefits to local communities and the environment. We have been recognised recently for this approach and have won the Utility Week Water Industry Achievement Award 2015 in the category of ‘Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management’ for our SuDs for schools and communities programme.

2.5 Pollution

We have had two category 1 pollution incidents in 2016. The first event was due to a blocked Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) at West Cornforth Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) which caused sewage fungus in the watercourse. We conduct a detailed review after each serious pollution incident to identify learning, and we are currently putting measures in place to avoid any further occurrences of this nature across our assets. The second event was at Crook Beck when dead fish were reported downstream of a CSO. Investigations are ongoing to identify the cause of this event. Five category 2 pollution incidents have been reported in 2016. Investigations are ongoing into two of the incidents which were believe are due to a third party and a misconnection issue. Further details are given below: 1. A burst rising main at Wapping Burn SPS on 26 April 2016. 2. A bathing water notice was deployed following a discharge caused by a blockage at Seaton

Carew SPS on 14 June 2016.

3. Sewage fungus in the River Don at Springwell downstream of a CSO on 15 June 2016. We

believe the fungus was caused by misconnections and the investigation is ongoing. 4. Third party building work caused a blockage in a CSO at the River Browney on 14 July 2017.

NWL have submitted a challenge to the EA. 5. A sewage leak from a pipe crossing at Hoppers Wood near Aykley Heads on 18 July 2016.

2014

2015 2016 YTD

up to 31 July

Category 1 0 0 2

Category 2 3 *5 5

Category 3 87 156 77

Total 90 161 129

% self reported 56 82 64.3

*one event is under review and likely to be reallocated to a third party 2.6 Other

Bathing waters As of 7 August 2016, (week 13 of the bathing water season), we are predicting that all beaches will pass the standard and that we will see an improvement on the results for 2015. Currently 33 (97%) of our 34 bathing waters are achieving the ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ status.

Claire Sharp Customer Director 18 August 2016

NOTES:


only

Water and

Sewerage

Total

Household 12,657 76,704 1,119,679 1,209,040

Non-household 9,874 10,277 55,793 75,944

Q1 Q2 Q3

Unwanted telephone contacts 99,144 92,702 28,523

Written complaints (including email) 3,453 3,771 1,490

Household 3,269 1,277

Non-household 502 213

2nd level written complaints 145 161 49

Household 133 31

Non-household 28 18

CCWater investigations 1 0 0

Household 0 0

Non-household 0 0

Quantitative SIM Score61.95

Qualitative SIM Score4.44 4.40

TOTAL SIM Score85.28


Supporting comments: Targets have been set to improve performance in the areas of quantitative and

qualitative SIM. Improvements have been seen in both areas when compared with the same position last

year.

Service Incentive Mechanism 2015-16 2016-17

DISCLAIMER: The data presented in this report has not been subject to external review. CCWater respects

the nature of the data provided and that the data presented may be revised as a result of companies'



3. Year to date (YTD) figures refer to the cumulative figure up to the end of the quarter when the information

2014-15


REPORT TO THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATERCOMPANY NAME: Northumbrian Water

Northern COMMITTEE

PERIOD: April-June 2016

Supporting comments: Properties Connected as of 1st July 2016.

Page 1 of 5

Q1 Q2 Q3

Charging and billing 2,419 2,860 823

Household 2,121 2,506 709

Non-household 298 354 114

Water service 505 428 101

Household 455 369 95


Sewerage service 395 277 87



Metering 83 84 48

Household 70 70 42


Other service issues 51 122 71

Household 46 98 56



email)3,453 3,771 1,130

Household 3,046 3,269 971



connections27.04 29.41 8.80

Household

Non-household


Categories of written complaints

Supporting comments: We have seen an increase in written complaints relating to account enquiry and tariff

related issues. This is related to changes to our budget bills and is expected to reduce as customers go

through the full billing cycle and payment plans are better aligned to measured bills. Review frequencies

have increased and as such may result in a slightly increased contact level. We have seen an increase in

meter option applications arising from the termination of a collection agreement and this has resulted in

delays to meter installations and has driven some unwanted contact.

2016-172014-15 2015-16

Page 2 of 5

Total



in Wales)

1,324 1,596 1,653

Medical reasons 780 904 922

Family criteria 544 692 731





appropriate

7 852 1,242


Direct16,986 17,613 16,818

Total number of customers on Extra Care

Register13,271 14,171 14,225



register at the start of the period620 289 276


from the register 495 32 12

Total number of properties added to the

register211 19 6


register at the end of the period336 276 270



reporting period

474 56 5


flooded in the reporting period Public 228 175 23


flooded in the reporting period TDS 188 119 62



period445 444 439

Total number of external areas removed

from the register168 17 3


register 154 12 4


the end of the period 431 439 440



period

0 0 3


flooded in the reporting period Public 1,170 1,168 150


flooded in the reporting period TDS 2,479 1,445 629

Supporting comments: This data contains Severe and Non Severe Weather Data. Figures for 2016/17 are

from 1 April to 30 June 2016.



2016-17

% of household metered

properties

0.47%

2015-162014-15

2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Supporting comments: We have developed and launched a new social tariff for those customers who are

independently assessed as being unable to afford to pay the full water charges, this is being funded by

savings in debt collection costs rather than by increasing other customers bills.


Sewer flooding: External 1 in 10 and 2 in

10

Sewer flooding: Internal 1 in 10 and 2 in

10 register

Supporting comments:This data contains Severe and Non Severe Weather Data. Figures for 2016/17 are from

1 April to 30 June 2016.

2016-17Vulnerable customers (as at 31 March) 2014-15 2015-16

Page 3 of 5

2.2 Leakage

Leakage 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17


Total (Ml/d) 137 136 128

Distribution input (Ml/d) 675 668 659.87

Supporting comments: Figures for 2016/17 are from 1 April to 30 June 2016. The starting values for the year

were significantly lower than 2015/16, down by around 9 Ml/d, and the subsequent weekly values have also

all been lower. The first quarter year to date value is around 6.9 Ml/d lower than 2015/16.

Page 4 of 5

Q1 Q2 Q3




(hours/property)

00:04:49 02:11:00 00:00:26


Household (%) 31.40% 33.10% 33.60%


(%) (where applicable)0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Non-household (%) 88.40% 89.00% 87.70%


Measured (litres per person per day) 135.45 133.51

Unmeasured (litres per person per day) 143.82 148.35

Average (per person per day) 141.85 144.67

2.5 Water demand

2.4 Metering

Supporting comments: Performance is slightly better than at the same time last year.

Supply interruptions

Supporting comments: Figures for 2016/17 are from 1 April to 30 June 2016. Universal metering is not

applicable. We have seen an increase in meter option applications arising from the termination of a

2015-16


2016-17

Supporting comments: Figures are only reported at year end. We continue with efforts to drive water

efficiency within the area of supply.

2014-15

Page 5 of 5

NOTES:

Connected properties (as at 31 March) Water only Sewerage only Water and

sewerage

Total

Total connected properties 105,501 109,645 3,169,577 3,384,723

Household 73940 44696 3006179 3,124,815

Non Household 31561 64949 163398 259,908


Unwanted telephone contacts 203,001 195,438 46,253 46,253

Written complaints (including email) 9,542 10,227 3,366 0 0 0 3,366

Household 2,340 2,340

Non-household 1,026 1,026


Household 83 83

Non-household 161 161


Household 0 0

Non-household 0 0

Quantitative SIM Score20 20 24

Qualitative SIM Score60.75 61.31 Not available

TOTAL SIM Score80.8 81.5 Not available





SIM Qualitative score is not yet available

REPORT TO THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATERCOMPANY NAME: United Utilities

Northern Committee

PERIOD: April to June 2016-17

Supporting comments: Please provide details here of audited data for 2015-16

Data provided as at 31/3/16

DISCLAIMER: Not all of the data presented in this report has been subject to external review. We ask that CCWater respects the nature of the data provided and

that the data presented may be revised as a result of companies' audit processes.




2016-17

Page 1 of 5


Charging and billing 7798 8,283 2,405 0 0 0 2,405

Household 6166 5750 1,494 1,494

Non-household 1632 2533 911 911

Water service 1365 2,963 430 0 0 0 430

Household 1268 2796 399 399


Sewerage service 927 979 298 0 0 0 298

Household 853 873 281 281


Metering 1380 789 175 0 0 0 175

Household 1247 789 166 166

Non-household 133 0* 9 9


Household 8 19 0 0



email)11480 13,033 3,366 0 0 0 3,366

Household 9542 10227 2,340 0 0 0 2,340

Non-household 1938 2806 1,026 0 0 0 1,026


connections34 39 9.94 0.00 0.00 0.00 10

Household 28 30 6.91 0.00 0.00 0.00 7

Non-household 6 8 3.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 3

Supporting comments: * - Non Household Metering complaints have been captured within the Charging and Billing Category



2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Page 2 of 5

Total



in Wales)

8233 8432

Medical reasons 3802 4099

Family criteria 4431 4333





appropriate

4495 12985


Direct

39702 36741


Assistance Register

19016 20351



register at the start of the periodN/A N/A


from the register N/A N/A

Total number of properties added to the

registerN/A N/A


register at the end of the periodN/A N/A



reporting period

N/A N/A


flooded in the reporting period 757 1,111


2016-17Sewer flooding: Internal 1 in 10 and 2 in

10 register

2014-15

Vulnerable customers (as at 31 March) 2015-16


2016-17% of household metered

properties

2014-15


Please provide any relevant comments on outlier performance and also any changes to data from previous years including audited data for 2015-16

2015-16




Page 3 of 5



periodN/A N/A

Total number of external areas removed

from the registerN/A N/A


register N/A N/A


the end of the period N/A N/A



period

N/A N/A


flooded in the reporting period 3,682 3,959

Apr - Sept Oct - Mar


Distribution input (Ml/d) 1714 1722

2.2 Leakage

2015-16



2016-17

Sewer flooding: External 1 in 10 and 2

in 10

2016-17

Leakage 2014-15

2014-15 2015-16



Page 4 of 5

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year to Date




(hours/property)

00:13:25 00:16:42 00:01:42 0.00


Household (%) 38.4% 40.0%


(%) (where applicable)N/A N/A

Non-household (%) 91.3% 91.0%


Measured (litres per person per day) 106.9 108.0

Unmeasured (litres per person per day) 142.8 142.0


2016-172015-162014-15Supply interruptions




2.4 Metering

2.5 Water demand





Page 5 of 5

Consumer Council for Water Northern Report Period: 1st April 2016 – 31st July 2016

Household and Business Retail Services

Customer Service

Loop Customer Management

Loop has introduced a Development Framework to support the development of all colleagues. The framework provides a structure to help colleagues understand how their contribution and performance links to Yorkshire Water’s business objectives. We recognise that we can only be successful if we have competent people who are engaged in and

committed to delivering great customer service. To achieve this the business require everyone to have the

right skills and training. The aim is also to help colleagues develop a career on a long term basis.

Billing Specialist Contact Centre A training programme based on customer insight has been introduced to meet Yorkshire Water’s Customer

Promise. Common reasons for dissatisfaction have been reviewed where expectations have not been met

so every contact can be ‘helpful and friendly’, we’re ‘easy to deal with’ and we ‘get it right first time.’

Operational Specialist Contact Centre The operational contact centre was established in September 2015 and increased staffing levels has freed up colleagues to improve their knowledge through site and field visits. Closer working with operational planning and scheduling teams has reduced waiting times for appointments and increased first time resolution. Customer Care The 'Every Day Expert' letter writing initiative has been rolled out to other parts of the business on the back of the success of this approach dealing with complaints. This initiative has been short-listed in this years' Training Journal Awards for The Best Customer Service Program. We are currently progressing the next stage for the judges consideration of this award. Analysis of complaint drivers, cause and accountability, together with cross functional working parties looking at 'avoidable complaints' has been a developing feature over the period helping to identify training and process improvements within other Yorkshire Water departments.

Charging

A streamline burst allowance process is being piloted where the bill is credited at the first point of contact. This avoids unnecessary high bills being generated and speedier resolution for customers. The second phase of the Real Time Payment Project was implemented in April. Pay Point payments are

now processed faster. This builds on phase one which allocates cash to customer’s accounts from contact

centre card payments, web payments, automated telephone lines. This has resulted in a reduction in calls

to expressing dissatisfaction in receiving reminders or final notices after payment.

The graph below shows the increase in the number of customers we have not chased unnecessarily for

payment.

The Team who worked on this Initiative have been short listed for the Utilities and Telecoms Awards for the

best Team Water Team of The Year 2016 taking place in September.

Affordability

The Water Support tariff continues to be our greatest success in making bills affordable. Finishing the

financial year by helping 9,000 customers. The team recently hit the overall target of 10,000.

A renewal process of the scheme was introduced and looks to keep the process simple to ensure we retain

the correct vulnerable customers on the Water Support Scheme.

We continue to attend workshops with DWP ( Department of Work and Pensions ) on Universal Credit and

third party deductions to understand the impact the changes to the benefit system and how these are

effecting our customers.

Debt Management

The use of Credit Reference Data is still the main driver of our collection strategies. Understanding the

customers behaviour helps to identify to most appropriate strategy and ensure we provide help the most

vulnerable customers.

The centralisation for Attachment of Earnings to Salford from the local offices has now been embedded. All

changes have been implemented to reflect the recent increase in fees.

Vulnerability

Signposting and increasing awareness of all our schemes continues to be key part of our strategy. The list

of the external organisations and charities we are working with continues to grow, the latest being Age UK.

Mental Health Awareness training sessions are being carried out to ensure colleagues have a better

understanding and are able to support and provide the best possible service to our customers.

Metering

For the period 12,248 customers opted to go onto a water meter compared to 10,513 customers at the same time last year.

Wholesale Services

Heavy rainfall in June presented challenges to our contractor’s Amey. However, response times remained

stable. This was reflected in the relatively good waste wave 1 SIM survey score of 4.23. Also pleasing was

the water score of 4.61 which is the highest water score observed since the new SIM methodology was

introduced. Yorkshire Water’s SIM survey score of 4.52 ranked the company 2nd.

Water quality

The Mean Zonal Compliance was 99.97 at the end of July, against a full year target of 99.96. However, the nature of the measure is that it is too early to confirm if the end of year target is at risk. There has been a significant impact during July from three occasions where lead was found above the standard. Investigation is continuing into the specific cause of these cases. So far, there has been no reoccurrence of the issues with Nickel identified in 2015. We are now entering the highest risk period for the presence of Metaldehyde in water. There have been an increased number of Water Quality Events notified to stakeholders in 2016. The majority of these events have been related to domestic plumbing at individual domestic properties, either resulting in high levels of lead or increasingly in "blue" discolouration of supply at the kitchen tap. Significant Water Quality incident in Thorne, Doncaster. Late on the evening of the 27th July a single business property reported the presence of discolouration and taste and odour. An investigation was initiated, but the issues were quickly resolved. Inspections at this property and at nearby properties on the 28th July were not able to identify a confirmed source of the reported issues. However, discolouration and taste and odour recurred on the 29th of July. Subsequently, samples collected the previous day were found to contain high levels of faecal indicator organisms including E. coli. We instigated an Incident Management Team, and advice not to drink mains tap water was provided by a combination of methods to 3,648 properties in the town of Thorne and Moorends near Doncaster. The mostly likely source of contamination was identified as related to changes of use at a further third party business premises which had not been notified to the Company. The third party was removed from supply on the 29th July. Once the potential for serious contamination was identified we attempted to contact customers by several methods; updates were placed on our website; customers signed up to our SMS update service received a text; we placed details on social media platforms, and we provided briefings to radio, television, and print media. These announcements were updated as the nature of the event progressed over the course of the following days. Finally, written confirmation was provided to all customers in the affected area as well as some customers in neighbouring areas in order to confirm that they were not impacted by the event. As further investigations continued sample results provided evidence that boiling water would be sufficient protection for consumers. Over a period of days we provided alternative supplies to customers, flushed our mains networks, carried out targeted chlorination, and obtained samples in order to assess the quality of water in the network. During this period we worked closely with Doncaster MBC and Public Health England. By Thursday 4th Aug all parties were satisfied that sufficient evidence was available to lift the health protection advice. We understand that customers will have been concerned about the potential for contamination and inconvenienced by the health protection advice. Therefore as a gesture of goodwill we have made a payment of £30.00 to all impacted customers. We have also made a similar payment to customers in neighbouring areas who may have believed that they were impacted. Communication with customers throughout an incident like this is vital and we have written to all customers in the area asking for their feedback on how they feel we did. Over 1,000 questionnaires have been returned so far, with interim results indicating our communication could have been better.

Although, investigations into the specific cause have been completed this information is being processed and may result in legal action being taken by the Company under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations. The Company has also commenced the post event review process in order to identify key lessons. During this process we will look to work with stakeholders, and we will share as much information as possible in order to prevent a recurrence of this Event at any other location in the UK. Water Resources

As of the end of July 2016 reservoir stocks were at 78%, which is line with forecasted resources for this

time of year. Demand for the year is in line with previous years.

From April to July we have distributed free water saving packs to 11,000 customers, making estimated

savings of up to 0.5Ml/d. The packs contain devices for reducing shower and tap flow and a flush saver

cistern device to reduce toilet flushing.

At the end of July leakage was at 286.6 against a target of 297.1.

Sewage Treatment

The total number of failing works has reduced to four for the calendar year to date following the successful

acceptance of three challenges by the Environment Agency (Blackburn Meadows, Hawes and Dalton

Eldmire).

Sewer Flooding

Following heavy rainfall in June the number of properties affected by overloaded sewer flooding exceeded

target. However following investigation of incidents at the end of July the measure is ahead of target.

Both Internal and External Performance Commitments are ahead of target.

Pollution

The Performance Commitment is on target to date for Category 1 & 2 incidents.

Category 3 incidents are adverse to target.

Our pro-active programme of work to reduce the number of incidents continues with 30 incidents being

avoided since April as a result of this work.

Annex A - Performance

NOTES:

Connected properties (as at 31

March)

Water only Sewerage

only

Water and

sewerage

Total

Total connected properties 140,808 128,698 2,136,122 2,405,628

Household 137,462 128,698 1,992,697 2,258,857

Non Household 3,346 0 143,425 146,771


Unwanted telephone contacts 203,741 186,539 47,755 47,755

Written complaints (including email) 7,228 8,061 1,942 0 0 0 1,942

Household 7,190 1,691 1,691



Household 441 75 75



Household 1 0 0

Non-household 0 0 0

Quantitative SIM Score38 19 24 24

Qualitative SIM Score47.00 63.56 66.00 66.00

TOTAL SIM Score85.0 82.6 89.7 89.7


Charging and billing 3,698 3,528 863 0 0 0 863

Household 3,281 776 776


Water service 1,266 1,710 374 0 0 0 374

Household 1,415 312 312


Sewerage service 1,347 2,037 522 0 0 0 522

Household 1,766 432 432


Metering 296 233 54 0 0 0 54

Household 208 46 46





Total number of complaints

(including email)7,228 8,061 1,942 0 0 0 1,942

Household 7,190 1,691 0 0 0 1,691

Non-household 871 251 0 0 0 251

Total number of complaints per

10,000 connections30.36 33.51 8.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 8

Household 29.89 7.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 7

Non-household 3.62 1.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 1








Please provide any relevant comments on outlier performance and also any changes to data from previous years including audited data for 2015-16.

Please ensure the SIM has been reported using the same methodology as reporting to Ofwat and for your Annual Performance reports.


2014-15 2015-16

COMPANY NAME: Yorkshire Water

Northern Committee

PERIOD: April to June 2016-17

Supporting comments: Please provide details here of audited data for 2015-16

DISCLAIMER: Not all of the data presented in this report has been subject to external review. We ask that CCWater respects the nature of the data

provided and that the data presented may be revised as a result of companies' audit processes.




2016-17

2016-17

Total

Total number of metered customers

on WaterSure (or non-statutory

equivalent in Wales)

5,760 6,158

Medical reasons 2,665 2,920

Family criteria 3,095 3,238

Where applicable - number of

customers receiving assistance from

other company tariffs (cost neutral or

customer funded) and a breakdown

as appropriate Total

7,748 7,166 0

Resolve 5,524 5,000

Community Trust 2,224 2,166


Direct36,196 36,843

Total number of customers on

Special Assistance Register35,009 37,670



register at the start of the period204 173


from the register 108 5

Total number of properties added to

the register77 34


register at the end of the period173 202



reporting period

3 8


actually flooded in the reporting

period

446 415


Actual external areas at the start of

the period1,988 2,305

Total number of external areas

removed from the register13 3


register 330 130

Number of areas left on the register

at the end of the period 2,305 2,432

Number of areas which have


reporting period

15 2


flooded in the reporting period

3,704 3,702





2015-16


Please provide any relevant comments on outlier performance and also any changes to data from previous years including audited data for 2015-16. We

have helped 8,993 customers on our Water Support scheme during its 1st financial year.


Vulnerable customers (as at 31

March)

2015-16


2016-17% of household metered

properties

2014-15

2016-17 2014-15 2015-16


2016-17

Sewer flooding: External 1 in 10 and

2 in 10

Sewer flooding: Internal 1 in 10 and

2 in 10 register

2014-15

Apr - Sept Oct - Mar


Distribution input (Ml/d) 1246 1240

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year to Date




(hours/property)

0.16 0.21

0.02

0.02


Household (%) 47.1% 49.0%

Universal metering programme

target (%) (where applicable)- -

Non-household (%) 87.3% 86.8%


Measured (l itres per person per day) 105.0 107.6

Unmeasured (l itres per person per day) 153.0 153.5


2016-172015-162014-15Supply interruptions

2.2 Leakage

2015-16




2016-17



2.4 Metering

2.5 Water demand





Leakage 2014-15

agenda and papers – northern committee meeting

Documents