Challenge
With water bills increasing, we are seeing more customers looking for help to pay their bills. We are already helping over 150k customers with reduced or capped bills, but we want to help more.
From 2025, we will introduce our new Financial Hardship fund – with a £20m contribution from our shareholders over the next five years. This fund is designed to help us lower customers’ bills so they are more affordable, and customers can sustain regular payments.
We’re looking for innovative, practical, and customer-focused ideas to distribute this fund effectively and fairly. Let’s ensure it reaches those who need it most—while making a real difference to household budgets.
Proposal
Explore innovative ways to reduce water bills for customers struggling to pay, without relying on water efficiency measures, and beyond existing discount criteria.
Target Audience
Anyone! Our customers, other utility or councils, customer representative groups, advice advisors. We’d love to hear views and ideas from as many people as possible to really get a hands-on understanding of the challenges customers face.
What will we do?
Our goal is to identify the challenges our customers face in managing their budgets and paying their bills.
- Who is currently ineligible for tariffs but still requires assistance?
- Who needs more support than existing tariffs can provide to make bills more affordable?
- When is short-term assistance necessary?
- Gain insights into the income shocks affecting our customers in the short and long term.
Explore other programs that help reduce customers’ bills.
- Design new initiatives to benefit customers which we can develop.
We will build on the sprint outcomes as part of the annual innovation festival in Newcastle in July 2025. You’re welcome to join us there too!
Why join?
- Make a real impact on people’s lives.
- Help shape how this fund is used.
- Collaborate with experts and passionate problem-solvers!
