Water firms receive record number of complaints

According to an industry watchdog complaints about water firms have rocketed in the past twelve months, soaring to record levels. The information comes from the Consumer Council for Water. During the financial year to April 2008 around 273,000 complaints are said to have been received by water firms.

The majority of complaints that were received were for three water firms, which were Anglian Water, Southern Water, and South East Water. Southern Water saw complaints rocket by 155% for the financial year. Many of the complaints related to billing and charges.

Both Southern Water and South East Water said that the complaint levels rocketed because of new billing systems that were brought in, which suffered teething problems and resulted in problems for consumers. Anglian Water also blamed a new billing system for the rise in complaints.

However, an official from the Consumer Council for Water said: “Without the high increases in complaints to Southern Water, Anglian Water and South East Water, figures for the industry overall would have dropped.” She added: “It is even more disappointing that for the third year in a row, the rise in complaints has been heavily influenced by individual water companies introducing new billing systems that have gone wrong.”