Committee publication · Correspondence · 24 March 2026
Correspondence from the Consumer Council for Water regarding debt collection practices, dated 18 March 2026
From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Inquiry: Reforming the water sector
Summary
The Consumer Council for Water responds to EFRA Committee questions about water company debt collection practices. CCW states bailiffs should be last resort for deliberately non-paying customers with means; notes 1 in 10 households were in arrears in 2024/25 but fewer than 1 in 300 received court summons. CCW recommends mandatory Landlord TAP scheme, enhanced data-sharing on benefit entitlement, and a single national social tariff to eradicate water poverty by 2030.
Key findings
- Bailiff enforcement peaked at 35,000 cases in 2024/25 due to post-pandemic catch-up after industry-wide pause on court action; CCW assessments found no concerns with bailiff use and received only 10 complaints about bailiffs out of 8,000 total complaints
- Total debt for households in arrears stands at £2.12 billion in 2024/25; debt recovery costs feed into customer bills via Ofwat's price-setting process
- CCW recommends mandatory Landlord TAP scheme in England (already mandatory in Wales) to hold landlords liable for tenant water charges and enable earlier identification of customer circumstances
- Enhanced data-sharing proposed: CCW calls for broader access to DWP benefit data and household income information to enable auto-enrolment onto sophisticated social tariff schemes and eradicate water poverty
- Water Supply and Sewerage Regulations changes requiring notification before credit reference agency data-sharing have caused uncertainty; companies have suspended some data-sharing activity, risking their own access to customer credit information
Tone
FactualTopics
Key actors
Consumer Council for Water, Alistair Carmichael MP, Ofwat, Water companies (English), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Department for Work and Pensions, Dr Mike Keil
Notable line
“… bailiff enforcement action should only be used by water companies as a last resort …”
Key Quotes
“CCW believes that bailiff enforcement action should only be used by water companies as a last resort, and where they can show customers are persistently and deliberately not paying for services despite having the means to do so.”
“In 2024/25 around 1 in 10 households were in arrears with water bill payments, but less than 1 in 300 customers were issued with a court summons.”
“The total debt for current households in arrears amounted to £2.12 billion in 2024-25 2 . Debt recovery costs are taken into account by Ofwat in setting price limits for water companies - and therefore feed through to customer bills.”
“We note that amongst the companies which you approached for information the use of bailiffs peaked at 35,000 cases in 2024/25. Debt recovery activity increased post- pandemic as companies lifted additional protections which had been in place - including the industry-wide pause on the commencement of new court action.”
“CCW recommended that the Landlord Tenant Address Portal (Landlord TAP) 5 scheme should be made mandatory in England as is already the case in Wales.”
“CCW believes there would be value in companies being able to access data on benefit entitlement on a more widespread basis – to help avoid some customers being missed through this process.”
“A single national social tariff scheme was also backed by the Independent Water Commission review 8 . By taking account of household circumstances, including income and water bill level …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗