Supporting our customers when you need it most
10 October 2022
From the 3rd – 7th October this year, colleagues at Welsh Water acknowledged the Institute of Customer Service’s National Customer Service Week.
Our dedicated support teams have been sharing handy hints and tips with colleagues on how we can all do more to support our customers. From promoting how we can all play our part to identify customers who may benefit from additional support, to sharing information on who to contact to get customers in vulnerable situations the help they need.
Kim Hopkins, Specialist Support Customer Manager at Welsh Water, said: “We know that our customers sometimes need a helping hand to support them. Whether they’re financially vulnerable and struggling to afford the essentials like food, utilities, and their water bill, or have other vulnerabilities such as a disability or long-term illness; we’re here to help, with a friendly team on hand to support as many customers as we can.”
Currently, over 144,000 customers receive financial assistance from Welsh Water and, with the cost-of-living crisis, that figure is set to rise.
Kim added: “Not ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to supporting customers, and that’s why we have a whole host of support available for customers. For those who may be struggling financially, our social tariffs offer a way of charging our customers based on their situation. These are a long-term solution and help make life that little bit easier by reducing costs. We also have our debt support schemes, which are specifically for our customers who are struggling financially. Our Customer Assistance Fund is designed to help customers experiencing water debt to clear their balance, making their payments more manageable and releasing them from the pressure debt in the longer term.”
As well as financial vulnerabilities, Welsh Water has support on offer for customers who may be vulnerable in other ways. Welsh Water’s priorities services register is available to make sure people get the help they need, with over 127,000 customers currently signed up.
“Signing up to Welsh Waters’ priority services register is a great way for vulnerable customers to get that extra bit of support from us. We offer communication in accessible formats, like large print or braille and the ability for customers to nominate a friend or relative to talk to us or receive correspondence on their behalf. Eligible customers can also set up a password scheme to protect against bogus callers and, of course, get free bottled water delivered during an outage.
“Our work to raise the profile of these schemes with our colleagues this Customer Service Week aims to help our teams identify people who may be struggling and don’t know what support we have available to them. We hope to get more referrals for support so we can help as many customers as we can.” Kim continued.
At Welsh Water, we’re here to help. If you or someone you know could do with a helping hand our friendly, specialist support team is here to help. Get in touch with us today.
Find out more about our Priority Services Register and Financial Support.