Thames Water launches new scheme to automatically cut water bills – here’s who qualifies
Londoners caught in the cost-of-living crisis will have their water bills cut automatically under a pioneering new partnership between Thames Water, 17 London Borough Councils, and data analytics company Policy in Practice.
Thames Water launched the scheme – the first of its kind in the UK water industry – to ensure customers in financial difficulty automatically receive the assistance they are entitled to, even if they are unaware of their eligibility, it said in an accompanying statement on Tuesday (30 September).
After a successful pilot in Wandsworth and Richmond Upon Thames earlier this year, Thames Water is now rolling out the scheme across a further 15 London boroughs.
Almost 15,500 households have already been enrolled in Thames Water’s WaterHelp scheme to receive financial support so far. It is expected that across the 17 boroughs, about 33,000 struggling households will save on average more than £300, equalling more than £10 million a year in total.
How does the automated scheme work
Customers do not need to be in arrears to be eligible for financial assistance; however, for this auto-enrolment scheme, Thames Water is identifying households that are in arrears.
In partnership with the Borough Councils and using the Policy in Practice platform, an assessment based on the data held by those councils and the Department of Work and Pensions is made as to whether those households are eligible for financial assistance.
Customers will then be automatically enrolled for either WaterHelp, WaterSure, or the Extra Support Scheme.
Customers whose water bill is more than 5% of their equivalised net income will qualify for WaterHelp, cutting their bill in half.
The criteria for the WaterSure social tariff are a household with a water meter where someone is receiving means-tested benefits and either has a medical condition that requires extra water or three or more children under the age of 19 living at the property, also making them eligible for Child Benefit. Their bills are capped at the average of what other customers pay.
The majority of customers helped in this scheme are expected to qualify for WaterHelp assistance rather than WaterSure.
Thames Water said it is rolling out the scheme in the following boroughs:
- Richmond Upon Thames (original pilot)
- Camden
- Wandsworth (original pilot)
- Hackney
- Tower Hamlets
- Hammersmith & Fulham
- Haringey
- Enfield
- Lambeth
- Kensington & Chelsea
- Islington
- Westminster
- Lewisham
- Ealing
- Brent
- Greenwich
- Southwark
“Our purpose is to deliver life’s essential service and we are determined to support those customers who are struggling to pay their bills,” said Nina White, Director of Income at Thames Water.
“This partnership with the local authorities and Policy in Practice allows us to reach thousands of customers who previously may have been unaware that our WaterHelp scheme can help them. We’re looking forward to the rollout extending to more boroughs across London, with customers enrolled on the scheme automatically if eligible.”
