‘48% of Welshpool area will find it hard to pay water bills’

MyWelshpool has been told by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) that 48% of Hafren Dyfrdwy customers have told them that they will  ‘find it difficult to afford their water bill over the next five years’.

The shocking revelation has been made as we continue to work on our readers’ behalf to plead for common sense to prevail with the water company hiking up our bills by almost 50% this year alone.

Hafren Dyfrdwy said they won’t back down from the ridiculous hikes, which have been made despite industry regulator OfWat saying they should only rise by 20% this year, or an average maximum of £100.

And not forgetting that this has been added to a 30% hike last year, meaning that many of our water bills have doubled in just two years!

With Hafren Dyfrdwy telling us they won’t budge and that readers must cough up, the only advice they have offered to date is to get in touch direct with them if they are struggling to pay.

And, judging by the advice from CCW, they are set to be busy.

Below is a response to our questions put to CCW, who customers can complain to if they have a dispute with their water company.

Among the questions we asked were whether the hikes break any laws due to them seemingly ignoring OfWat instructions, and also what would happen should a customer simply refuse to pay on principal?

In our bid to be as transparent as possible, we have carried the full CCW response below.

The question remains though, what next can be done?

“We really empathise with the concerns of your readers over the impact of these bill rises. These increases are unprecedented in the water sector and will inflict further pain on many households which are already struggling with the rising cost of essentials.

Almost half of Hafren Dyfrdwy customers (48%) told us they would find it difficult to afford their water bill over the next five years.   

But we also know – and our research makes clear - people do want to see investment in improving services and protecting the environment and that money comes from our bills. That’s why people have got to see and feel a difference over the next five years and we understand there are some customers who will question whether water companies can deliver on their promises. If they fail to, consumer trust in the water sector – which is already at an all-time low – will not recover.

At present we are most worried about the people who are already struggling to make ends meet and are making difficult choices like cutting back on heating and eating. Existing support from water companies is a postcode lottery and does not go far enough. It’s why we we’ve been campaigning for a single social tariff to provide fairer and more consistent support for customers who cannot afford their water bill. We’ve never been closer to securing that change but in the meantime water companies could and should be doing more to support the most financially vulnerable customers. 

On the Ofwat guidance point, I believe you’re referring to the average bill rises the regulator agreed as part of its final determinations in December. Firstly, those price rises did not include inflation which water companies are also allowed to add to customers’ bills every year – on top of the price limits set by Ofwat.

Companies can also earn financial rewards or be hit with penalties based on their performance which can cause a further fluctuation to bills.

It's important to also stress there is nothing untoward going on here in terms of the increases customers are now experiencing. One of the issues here is that ‘average bills’ and ‘average increases’ can appear quite misleading for customers.

What people actually end up paying can vary significantly from the ‘average’ depending on their circumstances and how each water company rebalances charges across metered and unmetered customers.

But water companies cannot collect revenue which exceeds the price limits set by Ofwat.

It’s also worth noting that the bill rises agreed by Ofwat have been heavily front-loaded into the first year of the new five-year price limit period. It means millions of customers will experience a very large rise in their bill this year, before much smaller increases over the rest of the decade. CCW was opposed to this approach as we know customers prefer to see any increases spread more smoothly over a longer period.

Our advice to anyone who is considering boycotting their water and wastewater bill in protest is to continue paying their charges, as the implications of not doing so can be very damaging for a household. Late or missed payments can negatively impact credit ratings, and water companies can take debt recovery action, including court action that may result in additional costs being added.”