Consumer Issues Workshop Consumer Council for Water 3rd October 2016 3/10/2016 Consumer Issues Workshop Alan Lovell Chair Consumer Council for Water

Issues from our Wales and regional stakeholder events 3/10/2016 Issues from our Wales and regional stakeholder events We have held five of these workshops already in Wales, the north, the west; central and eastern region and in our London & SE region. Each workshop looked at business customers, and how competition in England could affect business customers experiences. We found the issues coming out of there were: How CCWater’s role is to inform; promote and protect non-household consumers before, during and after the market has opened. CCWater should help to inform consumers about competition - explaining what it means for different non-household groups and providing reassurance on issues such as consistency of supply. We should ensure the customer voice is heard in the decisions to shape the market now and once it opens for all businesses in England in April 2017 CCWater should be the voice for small businesses who are more insular than big businesses, and share good practice, encourage take up of innovative developments Messaging in Wales is important – all should develop and create consistent messaging about what customers in Wales can and cannot do. This includes the companies, CCWater, Welsh Government, Ofwat and MOSL. Then each workshop considered an issue that was relevant to it locally. In Wales they considered surface water management, and the points were co-operation between different agencies remains crucial and the use of natural hydraulic solutions. They also considered how we can help find solutions to tackling affordability; supporting vulnerable consumers; and tackling water debt. The key issues raised were that links with the financial industry who also see customers struggling to pay could be another way into helping customers with water debt and raising awareness of help that is available, plus, for examples posters in GP or hospital waiting areas. In the North, the also considered vulnerable consumers, and what customers expectations should reasonably be around protection from flooding. On flooding, stakeholders felt that companies should continue to develop partnership working opportunities with the EA, Local Authorities and other bodies responsible for flood risk management.  On vulnerability that CCWater should explore if there are opportunities to develop a “community vulnerability” strategy with companies. This strategy would focus on the needs of a vulnerable community as a whole which find themselves facing vulnerable circumstances as a result of an event e.g. flooding, boil water notices, major local redundancies/works closures.  And CCWater to work with the industry to gain a common identity for “Priority Services/Special Assistance”. Our role is to lead on the national perspective and on national practice whilst getting the messages about the service into national advice bodies and other service providers. In the Central and Eastern region, they also looked at issues around flooding and found the EA, LA and water companies have built into plans additional resilience to address increased frequency and magnitude of events due to the impact of climate change.  But there is some way to go to meet the additional requirements set out in the National Flood Resilience report issued in September 2016. Like this workshop, they also considered customer service, and how companies can be incentivised to go further with improvements. They thought we should look to include views from customers that have not contacted the companies to get a fair understanding of satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels In the West, they considered how CCWater can better reach consumers and the following take away points were made: partnership work is valued, including on research; they wanted to see more good practice sharing, and us praising the good performers. CCWater should make better use of external trade organisations to spread messages and awareness. And finally, in the London and SE region; they considered consumers and using water wisely –participants wanted us to consider Messaging which they thought needs to be more future looking and should highlight our responsibility to customers of the future; They also focused on making services more inclusive and identifying gaps in support provided. Conclusions involved noting the transient nature of vulnerability – the group considered the challenges of reaching and identifying consumers in temporary vulnerable circumstances. It was noted that often consumers who may be in temporary vulnerable circumstances do not identify themselves as vulnerable. And that water company staff may sometimes miss this type of vulnerability.

The impacts of non – household competition 3/10/2016 Business customers will need our support to answer their queries and to fix problems when things go wrong They will need an advocate when big issues need tackling There will also be impacts for customers in Wales We want to understand your views on how we should support non-household customers As we all know, from April 2017 non-household customers will be able to switch their retailer for water and sewerage. Today sees Defra’s retail exit process open its doors.

Non – household competition 3/10/2016 Our planned strategic focus: Help raise customer awareness of the market Engage with retailers Publish performance information on retailers Monitor consumer protection measures Provide impartial advice and information Keep a watch on service provided by companies in Wales And of course handle customer complaints Is that the right mix? Is there anything we have missed?

CCWater research On the shelf Almost done Uncharted Waters, Jun ‘14 3/10/2016 On the shelf Uncharted Waters, Jun ‘14 Testing the Waters, Jul ‘14 Exit Strategies, Nov ‘14 Lessons Learned, Dec ‘14 Uncharted Waters: Phase 2, Jan ’16 Open for Business: Learning from Scottish Experience, August ‘16 Almost done Testing the Waters, October ‘16

Customers worry about… 3/10/2016 Contracts that automatically roll-over and/or tie in customers Mis-selling, cold calling, hard sell and limited cool-off period Lessons Learned, Dec 2014 Open for Business, Aug 2016 Customer detriment to those forced to switch due to retail exit Awareness of market, retailers, renegotiation as an option Getting complaints resolved promptly

Issues to consider in breakout group: 3/10/2016 As we aim to best support non-household customers before, during and after the market opens Does our strategic plan cover the right issues? Is there anything we have missed? We also want to explore with you How far should wholesalers should retain a NHH customer service function?

Household retail competition 3/10/2016 Household retail competition

Household retail competition 3/10/2016 Our planned strategic focus Inform decision makers of household customers’ expectations and requirements as retail competition is considered If the market for household customers goes ahead consider the policy issues around metering, disconnection, social tariffs and cross-subsidies ensure protections are in place to avoid detriment and plan how we should best support household customers if the market opens Is that the right mix? Is there anything we have missed?

CCWater research – household customers’ views 3/10/2016 56% like idea of having a choice of water retailer But the majority (63%) expect a price saving to make switching retailer worthwhile for them Percentage of customers who would consider switching for specific savings

Issues to consider in breakout group 3/10/2016 On our strategic approach Is that the right mix? Is there anything we have missed? What is the best approach to avoid customer detriment when considering metering, disconnection, social tariffs and cross-subsidies? What new protections would be needed for household customers over and above the non-household protections?

Customer service – pushing it to the next level 3/10/2016 Written complaints to water companies Complaints about water companies to CCWater The industry has improved significantly, complaints are less than half the number from the peak in 2007/08 The SIM has helped deliver the right company behaviour But what next?

Customer service – pushing it to the next level 3/10/2016 Our planned strategic focus Praise the better performers and criticise the poor performers Advocate for a measure of consumer perception on satisfaction with value for money and service Stress need for new SIM to drive right company behaviour and encourage companies to liaise with customers Highlight and share good practice Is that the right mix? Is there anything we have missed?

Issues to consider in breakout group 3/10/2016 On our strategic approach Is that the right mix? Is there anything we have missed? How much further the industry can go to improve its customer service? What does the industry need to do next to evolve? How should the industry share good practice?

3/10/2016 And finally… Thank you for your thoughts and views today Draft Forward Work Programme is due out late November Comments by early January