Inaccurate billing continues to dissatisfy business customers

7 Oct 2022 12:16 PM

Tackling business customers’ concerns over the accuracy of their water bills, and improving customer service, should be the top priorities for retailers, if satisfaction is to improve to the level we want to see.

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CCW’s joint business customer insight survey with Ofwat revealed satisfaction is at 77%, still below the high point of 80% seen in 2019. Billing issues were the biggest cause of dissatisfaction (77%), followed by customer service issues (65%) and concerns about price (21%).

We want to see business customer satisfaction rise to 85% by 2027, so retailers need to continue to drive improvements to the services customers rely on. Many businesses are also facing an uncertain future due to the current cost of living crisis, so they should not have to worry about whether their bill is accurate or not. We will continue to work with retailers and water companies to resolve the problems that are having the greatest impact on business customers.

The survey also revealed that there continues to be low numbers of customers switching provider, or re-negotiating a contract with their existing one. As with previous surveys, it is often larger businesses that are more likely to be active in this way than smaller ones with lower water use.

CCW would like to see a market that delivers better outcomes for business customers of all sizes. Early next year we will release a report that reviews the first five years of the business retail market from customers’ perspectives. We will focus on whether customers are getting value from this market, and make recommendations on how it can improve.

Business Customer Survey 2022