Water firms forced to pay back customers for poor performance

Water firms forced to pay £114m back customers for poor performance

Ofwat, the industry regulator, said water firms are “falling short” on performance measures around leakages, supply and reducing pollution. 

It said that following a review, water companies have been ordered to pay £114m back to customers, by cutting bills.

Ofwat said in its assessment that not one company reached the highest measure of performance.  

Dŵr Cymru, Southern, Thames, Anglian, Bristol, South East and Yorkshire Water fell into the lowest category of “lagging” and the remaining 10 were rated “average”. None were considered “leading”.

If water companies fail to meet targets on things like reducing pollution, leaks and water outages, Ofwat restricts the cash they can take from customers. 

All but five of the water providers reviewed will therefore have to give money back to customers by reducing their bills in 2024-25, rather than each bill payer getting a lump sum refund.

The companies that will have to cut bills are:

• Affinity Water
• Anglian Water
• Dŵr Cymru
• Hafren Dyfrdwy
• Northumbrian Water
• SES Water
• South East Water
• South West Water (South West area)
• South West Water (Bristol area)
• Southern Water
• Thames Water
• Yorkshire Water

Customer satisfaction has also been falling.