22nd September – CCWater Western region 22/09/2016 Consumer Issues Workshop Rt. Hon. David Heath CBE Chair CCWater Western Committee

The impacts of non – household competition 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. We want to understand your views on how we should support non-household customers.

Challenges of competition Limited push factors Customer satisfaction: Most are relatively satisfied with service Water is a relatively low cost and lower priority than energy Limited pull factors Retail margin: Limited price discounts, service incentives, innovation? Awareness Very low among smaller organisations Ability to differentiate retailer service offerings?

CCWater Research On the shelf Almost done 22/09/2016 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 Floating the idea: Household views May ’16 Open for Business: Learning from Scottish Experience, August ‘16 Almost done Testing the Waters, September ‘16

Customers worry about… 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: How should we best support non-household customers? How will customers work out which retailer is for them? How can they judge its pedigree? How can all stakeholders increase awareness? What do customers need in terms of Price and service quality? New or improved services that are attractive? Customer protection and/or regulation How far should wholesalers retain a NHH customer service function?

What do you expect from CCWater? 22/09/2016 What do you expect from CCWater?

What do you expect from CCWater? 22/09/2016 What do you expect from CCWater?

What do you expect from CCWater? 22/09/2016 What do you expect from CCWater? What does CCWater do well and what do we do less well? Could CCWater do more to speak up for consumers? What are you looking for from us and how best could we deliver that?

How can we better reach consumers? 22/09/2016 How can we better reach consumers?

How can we better reach consumers? 22/09/2016 How can we better reach consumers?

How can we better reach consumers? 22/09/2016 How can we better reach consumers? How well do you think we communicate with consumers? What more could we do to reach consumers? How could we make an even bigger impact?

22/09/2016 And finally… Thank you for your thoughts and views today Draft Forward Work Programme is due out mid-November Comments by early January Please fill in an evaluation form