Insights into incident management
In June 2023 we began a joint research programme with Ofwat to help us better understand people’s experiences of water or sewerage incidents.
We wanted to review what companies are currently doing well, what could be improved and what could be done differently to ensure customers are provided with the right help and support when things do go wrong.
We’ve published a highlights report, which reviews the insights we have gained over the last year, providing us with key learnings, best practice and the next steps.
Research aims
- We wanted to understand what people’s expectations of their water company are during incidents and how well these expectations are met.
- We wanted to highlight best practice of incident management and share these findings with the industry to help support improvements in companies’ responses to and management of and ultimately, improve the experience for customers.
- We want the research to inform our wider work on reviewing incident management. This work includes the development of a new incident assessment, where we will look at how people are supported during and after events.
- The research will also help us to support Ofwat’s wider regulatory work which includes the introduction of a new customer-focused licence condition.
Research findings
Overall, we found that there were several areas where companies could make changes that would have a noticeable impact and ensure peoples’ needs and experiences are put at the heart of incident management.
A few key themes emerged across the incidents we examined, especially around communication and support. Using the learnings from the research we have compiled a best practice checklist for companies to refer to which you can find below, to ensure customers are at the centre of incident management plans.
We have seen that how companies respond to incidents often lacks a customer-centric approach, with companies focused on processes rather than the impact on customers. This has often exacerbated the challenges that these incidents caused for participants, and so fallen short of their expectations.
A recurring theme in all of the incidents we looked at was company communication. During an incident, people want to understand what the issue is, how long the problem may last, what steps they may need to take, what support they can expect, and what their company is doing to resolve it. This range of information must be provided in a timely manner, using all available communication channels to ensure accurate information reaches those who need it, as quickly and as easily as possible. This must include letting those on the Priority Services Register (PSR) about the additional support they are entitled to
After an incident, communication should also be a key focus – a sincere apology to all those affected and the steps the company is taking to mitigate the risk of such an incident happening again as well as clear information on how and when compensation will be applied.
In many cases, we found the communications around these simple areas were not as clear as people expected and this acted as a key driver for dissatisfaction in how the incident was handled.
Both during and after incidents we often found that the support offered by companies did not meet people’s needs or expectations.
During the incidents, companies need to step up the provision of alternative supplies of water and provide any compensation people are entitled to consistently, with the process being communicated clearly.
In some cases, where incidents are prolonged, it may be appropriate to pay compensation while the event is still in progress.
Our insights from handling complaints tells us that poorly handled and inconsistent application of compensation can cause real frustration for people and so companies need to handle this in a more customer focused way to meet their customers’ expectations.
Next steps
We will continue to work with the industry to make sure that the help and support they provide during incidents meet customers’ needs and expectations. We are also working with Ofwat to revisit our experiences of sewer flooding research. This will help us to better understand people’ experiences around sewer flooding, so we can share best practice and improve incident management.
This work will inform our focus this year and beyond in the following areas:
- We will continue our work with companies to ensure they all have incident response webpages, that are clear and accessible, ensuring that people know what to expect if something goes wrong.
- We will introduce incident assessments and visit companies to understand how they are responding to issues that affect peoples’ water and sewerage supplies. The research with customers has given us a firm understanding of the key areas that we need to consider within the assessments and in our ongoing engagement with companies.
- We will ensure that companies’ vulnerability strategies are fit for purpose. This research has given valuable insight into understanding where strategies around the PSR need to improve to ensure that people are aware of the extra help services that they are signed up for and can get the support they need when they need it. We also believe customers should be compensated where promised PSR services are not provided, and want to see this added to the Guaranteed Standards Scheme.
- Our work to measure how companies demonstrate and uphold a customer-centric culture will continue, with an industry workshop being held in September. As part of this, we want to see customer-centricity being enacted across all areas of the business.
Company checklist for Better Incident Management
- Make the customer experience central to the management of an incident.
- Proactively pay fair compensation or GSS payments in a timely manner and make the process automatic where possible.
- Consider whether circumstances mean some form of community compensation may be appropriate.
- Ensure the right people are involved and deployed when managing incidents (including relevant technical, communications and consumer experts).
- Customer communication must be sincere, empathetic, accessible, clear, timely, and delivered through an appropriate range of channels. Information on websites should reflect the latest position.
- Information must be honest, accurate, and provide realistic timescales for resolution. Where information is not known this should be explained and an indication given as to when more information is likely to be available.
- Give simple and clear information about actions that customers need to take (such as boil water or collect alternative supplies).
- Include an internal communication strategy in the incident management process to ensure staff from across the organisation can provide accurate and up to date advice and information.
- The Director of Communications should be in Gold Command – when used.
- Use community networks to help disseminate information.
- When the incident is over, provide a sincere apology to all those affected and highlight the steps being taken to mitigate the risk of such an incident happening again.
- Post-incident communication should also inform people about receiving compensation and any learning that have been identified.
- Be visible – respond positively to requests for media interviews
- Put plans in place so additional resources are deployed to incident management and handling customer contact in the event of an incident.
- Execute incident plans consistently – avoid deviating from process simply because the event is ‘high profile’.
- Help those on the Priority Services Register (PSR) have a clear understanding of what additional support they can expect during an incident.
- Prioritise support to those most impacted during an incident and take action to promptly provide that support.
- Encourage those with extra support needs and not already registered on the PSR to contact the company so that assistance can be given.
- Provide immediate practical/financial support where needed, taking into account that financially vulnerable households may need such immediate support.