For too long, Thames Water has abused its position as the UK's largest water and wastewater supplier. The Company has over 15 million customers in the UK (c.27% of the population) and many of us simply have no alternative - unlike the Energy Sector, there is no switching service, no competition and despite the supposed regulation, you and I, the consumer who only ask for a fair service have minimal rights when the company does us wrong.

My own experience

My experience starts at the height of the Covid-19 crisis and ends in the falsification of an account by Thames Water and the decimation of my credit score - it transpires that after I moved out of a previous address in 2019, Thames Water had reopened the old account under my name and were sending threats to my old address. I only found this out after attempting to set up a direct debit for the account at my current address after a flatmate moved out. After three attempts to make contact with their customer service department (the first two advisers rudely hung up after I couldn't quote an account number) and a lengthy wait and a drawn-out process of verifying personal details, I was informed that I also owed over £500 at an old address for the period after I had moved and that they had been telling credit referencing agencies I was in arrears. Over three weeks later and despite continual attempts to make contact with them, I have had no further correspondence from Thames Water to rectify this. I continue to pay the bills at my current address but still await a resolution and apology on this falsification and erroneous extension of my old account after they had been notified that I left the property in April 2019. I can only imagine the stress that others may be facing as a result of Thames Water's practices, especially during this time of economic uncertainty. 

Wide scale customer dissatisfaction

Having investigated further, it seems this kind of treatment is to be expected - reviews on Trust Pilot are among the worst for any company. Tales of lies, deceit, incompetence and zero empathy are commonplace. While I believe their operational staff on the ground are providing an essential service and doing the best job they can - fixing leaks, blockages and trying to maintain an under-invested infrastructure - it seems that those in positions of management are either corrupt or incapable of leading a company of such importance and duty to the British public. So as not to make unfair judgements on anyone's character, we will assume the latter.

Signs of a wider problem?

Unfortunately, governance is something the Company continues to struggle with - only last month the former boss, Steve Robertson, was dismissed after three years in the role for his failure to reduce leaks in the network. Despite this, Robertson was given a £2 million payoff or 'golden goodbye' in addition to the £777,500 he received in lieu of working his notice period. Thames Water insists that this cost will not be borne by customers and it is 'funded through earnings generated outside the regulated business' but it speaks to the Company's culture of rewarding failure. These days, Thames Water likes to up-sell its newly polished environmental credentials but every year, 39 million tons of raw sewage makes its way into London's River Thames and the Company has received a steady flow of fines and criticisms over recent years for its shortcomings in this area.

Our mission to get this into national debate

While for many sectors, the free-market has brought about increased competition, which has driven down prices and offered consumers an array of choice varying in quality and service offering, privatisation of the water industry has left us with inefficiencies not seen since the 70's and behemoth, state-sponsored monopolies that seem to feed the executives and shareholders at the top while falling short of their service requirements to customers. Under the Water Industry Act of 1991 and more recent amendments, all water provision must be undertaken through these designated 'undertakers'. We call on the UK Government and the water industry's regulators, Ofwat and the Consumer Council for Water to take action. We ask the Government to commission a fair and independent white paper, looking into the wide scale problems in the sector and outlining a range of potential solutions with a debate to be held in parliament. We are politically neutral in our objectives and interested only in the consumer's best interests, however we suggest that drastic action is needed, whether that be through increased competition and incentivising private sector innovation in the sector, new regulations, or if necessary part or full-scale nationalisation of the water industry in the UK. Understanding these issues and taking time to invest in the health of the industry will only become more important as future generations face impending water shortages.

It's time that consumers had a voice again and its time that we took action!

Please help by signing this petition and if you have had a similar experience, please share this with us at thameswatercomplaints@gmail.com - the more voices we have, the more likely we can make this an issue of national debate.