Non-household complaints fall for first time since market opening

The number of complaints made by non-household customers about retailers to the Water Watchdog has fallen for the first time since the market opened.

New figures show the Consumer Council for Water received 766 complaints during the first quarter of 2018/19 – a 21 per cent reduction on the 968 received during the final three months of 2017/18.

It’s the first time CCWater has seen non-household complaints fall during a full quarter since the market launched on 1 April 2017.

However, complaints are still double what they were during the first three months of the market and CCWater has warned some retailers have much more to do.

Evan Joanette, Policy Manager at the Consumer Council for Water, said:

It’s too early to say whether the poor performing retailers on complaints have turned a corner but we’re encouraged to see this improvement which is long overdue.

More than two-thirds of customers raised complaints about their bills and charges compared to just over half this time last year. That suggests some retailers need to do a better job of providing their customers with bills they understand and trust.

CCWater wants to see retailers providing more support and information to micro and small businesses who accounted for nine out of 10 non-household contacts to the watchdog.