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June 2025 - Utilities

Water companies struggle to rebuild public trust, according to latest research: The Water Matters 2025 report reveals a concerning picture of consumer sentiment towards water companies in England and Wales, with trust and satisfaction levels nearly at, or at, an all-time low. Despite some modest improvements, particularly around consumer awareness about financial support schemes, most key performance indicators remain significantly below pre-2023 levels — evidence of deepening long-term trends in customer dissatisfaction.

Conducted by DJS Research, the latest release of CCW’s long-running Water Matters tracking survey took place between 8th July and 15th December 2024. The survey consisted of 4,254 telehone interviews with household water bill payers in England and Wales, gathering views and experiences of water, sewerage services, and related charges.

This year, the average customer trust score was 6.28 out of 10, a drop from 6.37 in 2023 and the lowest score since monitoring began in 2015.  While some providers, such as Portsmouth Water and Wessex Water, bucked the trend with notable increases (0.94 and 0.49, respectively), major players like Thames Water (5.12) and South West Water (5.42) saw sharp declines, dragging down the national average

The report highlights that satisfaction with value for money has continued to decline. Just over two-thirds (65%) of consumers were satisfied with water services (down 4% vs 2023). Additionally, a similar number (67%) said they were satisfied with their sewerage services (down 3% vs 2023). Even more significantly, only half (53%) of customers now believe their water bills are fair.

Customer contact with water/sewerage companies also reached record levels, with over a quarter (27%) of customers contacting their supplier, which represents the highest figure since 2015. Billing enquiries accounted for a third of all enquiries, followed by reporting a leak (12%) and a sewerage problem (10%). However, customer satisfaction with water company contact handling did see a small increase to 75%, up from last year’s low of 74%, but is still the second lowest score since 2015. The main reasons cited for dissatisfaction were lack of communication/information (42%) and unhelpful response/unresolved query (26%). 

Encouragingly, the report shows that awareness of the various financial support schemes saw significant increases. Nearly a fifth (19%) of customers said they were aware of the WaterSure tariff (vs 17% in 2023) and 8% in 2015 when the survey first started. Over half (55%) of customers were aware of Priority Services (vs 5% in 2023), and nearly half (49%) were aware they could receive reduced bills compared to 45% in 2023.

Click here to view the full Water Matters report. 

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