Complaints to watchdog about water firms soar

Complaints to watchdog about water firms soar

Many complaints were about affordability, after customers saw steep hikes to bills.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) said the year-on-year increase was the highest in its 20-year history and showed 'just how dissatisfied' many people were.

Water UK, which represents firms, said it understood that higher bills was never welcome, but the money was needed 'to fund vital upgrades'.

The total number of complaints to the watchdog rose to 15,115 in 2025-26, from 8,235 in the previous year.

Complaints made by households directly to water companies, which is required before complaining to the CCW, rose by 56% to 321,347.

The top three subjects of complaints to the CCW were measured billing, affordability and billing admin.

Mike Keil, the chief executive of the CCW, said the figures 'reflect just how dissatisfied many people still are with the state of the water sector'.

The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) assessed each water company's performance on the number of complaints it received for every 10,000 households it serves, and the amount of effort customers have to put in to get their complaint resolved. Thames Water and South West Water rated 'poor' for both performance measures.

David Bird, retail director at Thames, apologised to customers who 'have not received the service they should expect. ' Bills for the average Thames customer rose by 31% in 2024, but were a lot smaller this year at 3. 4%. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) said that companies need to be clear and open with their customers about how they are investing people's money to deliver real improvements.

Water UK said that 94% of complaints are 'being dealt with at the earliest possible stage without the need for