How water companies are tackling customer vulnerability and customer debt

Five key similarities and five key differences

Awareness around the needs of vulnerable customers is at an all-time high. There’s both keen industry and public focus on how water companies support customers experiencing financial hardship, medical dependencies, mental health issues and other vulnerable circumstances.

Ofwat Service for all guidance requires a published vulnerability strategy from all UK regulated water companies. While every company shares the ultimate goal of supporting those in need, a closer look at their strategies reveals a range of approaches. Here are five key similarities and differences in how water companies are tackling customer vulnerability and customer debt.

Wondering where your strategy fits in? Read on.

Five key similarities in how water companies are tackling customer vulnerability and customer debt

Potentially, there’s no huge surprises here as many of these are based on specific Ofwat recommendations. But, there are some areas where many strategies risk missing harder-to-reach customer groups.

1. Cross-sector data sharing

To identify vulnerable customers without asking them to repeatedly self-declare their struggles, water companies are heavily relying on secure data-sharing partnerships. For example, companies are establishing agreements with Energy Distribution Network Operators, local councils, fire and rescue services, and the Department for Work and Pensions. This collaborative approach allows companies to proactively identify customers eligible for the Priority Services Register (PSR) or financial support schemes based on data from trusted partners.

Risk: Customers can fall through the gaps until it’s too late. While data sharing and customer self-disclosure gives good coverage for identifying customers, there’s a risk that those who don’t quite fit the criteria, or are surviving just outside it, miss out and wouldn’t proactively look for help either.

2. Affordability toolkits

Every strategy features a multi-tiered affordability toolkit which universally offers Social Tariffs to provide bill discounts for low-income households, the government-designed WaterSure scheme to cap bills for metered customers with medical conditions or large families, temporary payment breaks, and flexible payment plans.

3. Frontline staff training and community outreach

Because many customers feel ashamed or simply do not self-identify as vulnerable, companies place a big emphasis on training their customer-facing staff to spot hidden signs of struggle. Staff are routinely trained in partnership with charities like the Money Advice Trust, Mind, and Samaritans to listen for cues and handle sensitive conversations with empathy. Additionally, to reach customers who might never call them, companies send community outreach teams directly to drop-in centres, food banks, and local community events to offer face-to-face assistance.

Risk: If a customer doesn’t want to speak on the phone to self-disclose, they may not be happy to engage with outreach staff face-to-face either, again leaving a portion of customers unidentified.

4. Two-year check-ins for Priority Services

Water companies have universally committed to a two-year data revalidation cycle, to ensure that records do not become outdated and that customers aren’t receiving the wrong type of help. Companies proactively attempt to contact customers registered on their Priority Services Register (PSR) every two years to verify if their medical, physical, or financial circumstances have changed and adjust their support accordingly.

Risk: The wording of these check-ins will be crucial for engagement, standard ‘checking your information is correct’ communications risk being ignored by vulnerable and time-poor customers. Offering incentives would increase engagement, be it a wellbeing check, personalised support or bill related incentives.

5. Inclusive design and alternative formats

Recognising that identifying vulnerability also means removing barriers to communication, all companies are standardising inclusive design. Across the board, strategies emphasise the provision of bills in Braille, large print, audio, and coloured paper. Digitally, almost all companies employ accessibility software to allow users to translate websites into dozens of languages or adjust fonts to help readability. Most companies also hold, or are actively working toward, the BS ISO 22458 international standard for inclusive service provision.

Five key differences in how water companies are tackling customer vulnerability and customer debt

1. The use of Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs)

Companies differ significantly in their willingness to use credit reference agencies to identify customers struggling with debt. Yorkshire Water¹ and Severn Trent² leverage external data from credit agencies alongside their own billing data to pinpoint low-income areas and proactively target households that might need support. Conversely, Bristol Water³ explicitly states that they have deliberately chosen not to work with Credit Reference Agencies; they believe CRA involvement can cause undue pressure for customers and negatively impact their credit scores.

2. How debt clearance schemes actually work

While all companies offer ways to help customers clear arrears, the specific design of their debt reduction and matching schemes varies:

For example,Wessex Water⁴ utilises a ‘Restart’ programme where, if a customer pays a set amount consistently for two years, the company clears the entirety of their remaining water debt.

United Utilities⁵ uses a ‘Payment Match’ scheme: for every £1 the customer pays, the company matches it with £1. After 12 months of consistent payments, the company increases its contribution to £2 for every £1 paid.

Southern Water⁶ offers a specific ‘NewStart’ scheme tailored individually for those who have debt and haven’t made a payment in a long time, as well as direct Hardship Fund grants.

3. Triggers for auto-enrolment

While sharing data is a common theme, the specific triggers that companies use to automatically enrol customers onto support schemes without a formal application differ from region to region:

Thames Water⁷ uses internal billing data (specifically dates of birth) to proactively and automatically register customers onto their Priority Services Register as soon as they reach 80 years of age.

In contrast, Portsmouth Water⁸ is piloting a model that uses purchased third-party data to automatically enrol low-income households into water poverty support.

Severn Trent⁹ offers an industry-first scheme focused on young adults leaving the care system, using a dedicated Care Leavers programme to automatically passport them onto support schemes to help them transition into independent living.

4. Exploring Open Banking

Companies are taking different technological routes to assess a customer’s ability to pay. For example, Wessex Water¹⁰ is exploring Open Banking to help people manage their debt, and uses a digital income and expenditure tool that allows customers to self-serve their financial budget online and automatically applies a suitable affordability scheme. In contrast, other companies rely more heavily on traditional face-to-face or phone-based income assessments facilitated by third-party debt charities.

5. Approaches to unique regional demographics

Because vulnerability profiles look different depending on geography, companies have developed highly specific responses to their unique regional challenges:

Thames Water¹¹ faces a migration rate of 18%, higher than the national average of 12%, making keeping accurate data a key priority. They also have higher than average ethnic diversity, with 46% of households identifying with Asian, black, mixed or ‘other’ ethnic groups. To combat low awareness in these communities, Thames Water pilot social media awareness campaigns in the most common London-based languages like Bengali, Polish, and Gujarati.

In contrast, Anglian Water¹² identified that nearly 3.5 million people in their region struggle with numbers and numeracy. In response, they partnered with Plain Numbers, becoming the first water company to have their debt recovery letters and bills accredited for numerical simplicity.

United Utilities¹³ has formed a specific partnership with STAMMA based on the experience of one of their employees, to train contact centre employees and engineers to create a more inclusive communication environment for customers who stammer.

Conclusion

While the water industry is united in adopting cross-sector data sharing, comprehensive affordability toolkits, and extensive staff training, the specific execution shows variation and innovation. From credit agency usage to experimenting with Open Banking, and bespoke partnerships to benefit certain demographics, companies are actively tailoring their approaches to best fit their unique regional footprints, customers and objectives. 

Identifying vulnerable customers, who don’t simply call up or self-disclose online remains a challenge, with risks around missing some of the hardest-to-reach groups and those living on the edge of vulnerability just outside of social tariffs or debt help schemes. For some tips supporting these customers, see our post here.

Based on water companies’ vulnerability strategies that were available online in February 2026.

Appendix.

1. Yorkshire Water, p.35 https://www.yorkshirewater.com/media/prpa2k33/yorkshire-water-by-your-side-june-2025-accessible-v2.pdf
2. Severn Trent, p.40 https://www.stwater.co.uk/content/dam/stw/regulatory-library/severn-trent-vulnerable-customer-strategy-2025.pdf
3. Bristol Water, p.48 https://www.bristolwater.co.uk/hubfs/Our-Customer-Care-Strategy_2025.pdf
4. Wessex Water, p.69 https://corporate.wessexwater.co.uk/media/xlchytqs/every-customer-matters-june-2025.pdf
5. United Utilities, p.28 https://www.unitedutilities.com/globalassets/documents/pdf/vulnerability-strategy.pdf
6. Southern Water, p.53 https://www.southernwater.co.uk/media/lhbirtam/customer-vulnerability-strategy-june-2025.pdf
7. Thames Water, p.39 https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/about-us/regulation/vulnerability-strategy/vulnerability-strategy.pdf
8. Portsmouth Water, p.11 https://www.portsmouthwater.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Vulnerability-Strategy-2026.pdf
9. Severn Trent, p.37 https://www.stwater.co.uk/content/dam/stw/regulatory-library/severn-trent-vulnerable-customer-strategy-2025.pdf
10. Wessex Water, p. 33 https://corporate.wessexwater.co.uk/media/xlchytqs/every-customer-matters-june-2025.pdf
11. Thames Water p.19 and p.45 https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/about-us/regulation/vulnerability-strategy/vulnerability-strategy.pdf
12. Anglian Water, p. 23 and p.41 https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/siteassets/household/corporate/customer-vulnerability-strategy-2025.pdf
13. United Utilities, p.45 https://www.unitedutilities.com/globalassets/documents/pdf/vulnerability-strategy.pdf