Spotlight On: the Vulnerable Customer Team


17 August 2021

If you enjoy reading the work of John Donne – or if you’ve ever seen the Hugh Grant classic ‘About a Boy’ – you’ll have heard the phrase ‘no man is an island.’ At Welsh Water we firmly believe in this phrase. We know life has its ups and downs. And from time to time, every single person needs a helping hand.

Life is unpredictable. None of us can look into the future and tell what’s in store. The Covid-19 pandemic is a great example of this. None of us would have been able to predict the challenges – financial, emotional, physical, and otherwise – that we’d each have to face. No-one can predict what’s around the corner or when we’ll need a bit of extra support. And that’s exactly why Welsh Water has an entire team dedicated to supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances.

The Vulnerable Customer team is made up of a team of established specialist support advisors and a small community-based team. Our advisors understand that vulnerability comes in many forms and help customers access support that works for them through our Priority Services Register or our suite of industry-leading financial support schemes.

Meanwhile our community team raises awareness of these services by working closely with local government, social landlords, and third sector organisations. By building these relationships, we’re able to engage with hard-to-reach communities. The team works closely with partners like job centres and Citizens Advice to deliver training and awareness sessions to make as many people as possible aware of the support that’s available to them. In one local area, a new customer referral process has been put in place with local Job Centre Plus offices generating savings of £14,200 for 71 customers.

If you know someone who could benefit from additional support – even if it’s not forever – the specialist team are here to help. Please get in touch for more information.

Mark’s story

Mark got in touch with us as he had recently lost his job after being diagnosed with a medical condition. He was clearly distressed and told us didn’t know much about the illness, saying “I don’t even know where to start”.

One of our specialist support advisors, Jody, helped Mark apply for our HelpU tariff to reduce his charges, and added him to our priority services register. Jody then worked with Mark to set up a payment plan that was manageable for the next few months and arranged to call him in 3 months to discuss how the plan was working for him.

Jody said “I felt that day that I had really helped this customer. I could tell he genuinely wanted and needed that support and guidance so desperately. A real feel-good factor for me as an advisor!”

Carrie’s story

When Carrie contacted us, she was in significant financial difficulty. She had built up a large debt with us and was in arrears with various other bills. She qualified for our social tariff, HelpU, to reduce her ongoing charges and we also accepted her onto Customer Assistance Scheme to help with her arrears. By working together on a tailored solution and manageable payments, Carrie could now be debt-free within 12 months.

*Names have been changed to protect our customer's identities