“It is illegal for water companies to disconnect the water supply of domestic customers, meaning that it will be water companies who will suffer the brunt of unpaid bills, over gas or electric companies.”, identified that customers in Severn Trent Water and Northumbrian Water’s catchment areas are the most financially vulnerable to water bill rises.
Thames Water is also set to be hit hard, with the research finding it is facing £413m in unpaid bills. The company has warned its 15 million customers to expect an 11.6 per centThe report calculated that the water supplier’s average monthly water bill of £50 from April could be beyond many of more than 854,000 low income households within its catchment area of London and the Thames Valley.
“Water companies do have a raft of schemes like social tariffs and payment breaks that can ease some of the pressure on low-income households, but awareness of this support remains far too low. According to a report for Ofwat from advisory firm PwC last December, bad debt costs grew by around 52 per cent the financial year to the end of March 2020.