Water watchdog complaints rise 84% as bill disputes mount

• Household complaints escalated to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) rose 84% to 15,115 in 2025–26, its largest year-on-year increase in the watchdog’s 20-year history.¹

• Complaints made directly to water companies rose 56% to 321,347. Billing complaints increased 72% at companies and 97% among cases taken to CCW.¹

• Complaints to CCW about whether higher bills were affordable rose 129%, while complaints about the scale of bill increases rose 54%. These figures record customer dissatisfaction; they do not establish that charges are unlawful or unjustified.¹

• Thames Water and South West Water were rated poor both for complaints per 10,000 household connections and for the effort customers had to make to resolve them. Portsmouth Water and Bristol Water were the only companies rated good on both measures.¹

• Ofwat says billing was already the sector’s leading source of complaints, with more than 130,000 billing complaints made to companies in 2024–25. It required water companies in England and Wales to publish billing action plans and says it will monitor whether they deliver them.²

CCW’s annual report covers household customers in England and Wales and was published on 16 September. The rise puts pressure on companies to explain bills plainly, identify payment problems before debt action and resolve disputes without sending customers through a second administrative maze.³

Ofwat has provisionally approved £3.39 billion of additional spending for 13 companies, with five allowed to recover some funding through bills before 2030. Its consultation on those draft decisions closes on 24 September, so further bill increases remain proposed rather than final.⁴

Footnotes

1. ITV News, “Complaints to watchdog about water firms hit highest increase in 20 years”, 16 September 2026: https://www.itv.com/news/2026-09-15/complaints-to-watchdog-about-water-firms-hit-highest-increase-in-20-years ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Ofwat, “Improving customer experiences of billing: Water company billing action plans”, updated 22 June 2026: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/vulnerability/improving-customer-experiences-of-billing-water-company-billing-action-plans/ ↩

3. Consumer Council for Water, “Household customer complaints report”, 16 September 2026: https://www.ccw.org.uk/event/household-customer-complaints-report/ ↩

4. Ofwat, “£3.4bn of funding set to unlock further improvements for water company customers, communities and the environment”, 13 August 2026: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/funding-set-to-unlock-further-improvements-for-water-company-customers-communities-and-the-environment/ ↩