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September 2024 - Utilities

Over half of water bill payers struggle with household costs amid rising financial pressures: The latest wave of OFWAT’s cost of living report, taken in Spring 2024, has revealed that 53% of water bill payers in England and Wales have struggled to pay one or more household bills fairly frequently over the past year. While this is a significant proportion, and an increase from the previous wave taken in Autumn 2023 (50%), it does mark a slight year on year improvement (vs 56% in March 2023).

The fifth wave of OFWAT’s cost of living survey was conducted online between March 18 and March 28, 2024, and gathered responses from 2,351 water bill payers. The data was weighted to ensure it was nationally representative across age, gender and region in England, and by age and gender in Wales. This bi-annual survey, launched in March 2021, investigates trends in bill payments, financial support, expectations, and wellbeing.

Paying bills

The report also highlights that 18–34-year-olds are most likely to be struggling to pay bills, with 73% of this audience reporting that they ‘sometimes’ or ‘more often’ find bill paying a strain. This represents a concerning 5% increase from the fourth wave . Additionally, more 35-54-year-olds were found to be struggling (65%) up  6% from the previous wave.

Financial Support

Despite these financial challenges, awareness of available financial support remains relatively low. Just over 3 in 10 respondents (31%) were aware that water companies offer financial assistance, and only 9% of all water bill payers reported actually receiving such support. This 9% uptake is the highest among utility providers, tying with electricity providers, where the same percentage had received financial assistance.

Expectations

The report highlights how a third of water bill payers expect their financial situation to worsen over the next year, with those already struggling to pay bills being more likely to anticipate further decline. However, this figure has improved from 42% in the previous wave, indicating some optimism or stabilisation in financial outlooks. Notably, individuals aged 55 and older are more likely to foresee worsening financial conditions.

Wellbeing

The survey also highlighted that 64% of water bill payers agreed that struggling with mental health makes it harder to ask for help with bills, a consistent statistic across each wave of the survey. Only 10% disagreed with this statement. Additionally, over a third (36%) agreed they avoid or delay opening bills when struggling with their mental health.

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