We are proud to provide a sustainable, affordable, clean and safe water supply and to manage and treat the waste water returned to us in a way that protects the environment.
14/06/2010
From this week, Essex & Suffolk Water customers who fall into arrears with their water bills will receive information1 about a helpline that will assist them to pay off their debt and deal with related problems.
This initiative is the result of a partnership between Essex & Suffolk Water and the Legal Services Commission (LSC), the organisation that runs legal aid in England and Wales, and the Community Legal Advice helpline.
The helpline - 0845 345 4 345 – provides legal advice to people on low incomes about debt, welfare benefits and related issues. Its advisers can help water customers arrange manageable repayment plans to pay off arrears. They will also give other advice or refer the person onto another organisation that can help. In addition, Essex & Suffolk Water’s website -www.eswater.co.uk/Difficultypaying.aspx now links to the Community Legal Advice website – www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk – so that residents can also seek information and advice online.
John Sirodcar, a national director at the LSC, said:”We know that people really benefit from advice when they are struggling to repay debts. Calls weren’t just about debt but other social welfare problems such as employment, housing and welfare benefits where we offer specialist advice to vulnerable people.”
Essex & Suffolk Water’s customer collection manager, Mark Wilkinson, said: “We are pleased to be working with Community Legal Advice. We think it is a priority that our employees are trained to consider customers’ circumstances when discussing payment problems and to be able to advise them where to go to get independent advice on debt. As the helpline is a single point of contact covering various issues it is a very convenient service for our customers.”
Sir James Perowne, Chairman of the Consumer Council for Water’s Central and Eastern Committee, said: “One out of every six customers tells us that they struggle to afford their water and sewerage bills, which can be an extremely stressful situation for these households. Getting clear information quickly to customers about available support is vital to help those in debt get back on their feet, and we are pleased Essex & Suffolk Water and the Legal Services Commission are working together to give these customers the advice they need.”
Anthony Walsh (not his real name)
When Anthony lost his job, he struggled to meet his household bills and credit card repayments. He owed just under £20,000 and could not meet the required minimum repayments because his only income was Job Seekers’ Allowance.
Anthony rang the Community Legal Advice helpline and an adviser helped him create a financial statement detailing his income, essential expenditure and debts.
Using this information, the adviser also negotiated offers of repayment with five of Anthony’s creditors; and deductions to his benefits so that he was able to repay his water arrears at an affordable amount.
This repayment plan was a lot more manageable for Anthony and enabled him to make his essential payments of rent, food and utility bills.
“Thanks to Community Legal Advice I can stop worrying about my finances and concentrate on finding a new job.” said Anthony.
• Legal Services Commission Pamela Judge, Senior Public Relations Manager tel. 0117 302 3150 (office) or 077 400 70512 (mobile) or Andrew Montgomery, Press & Public Relations Officer, tel. 0207 783 7218 or John Soonaye, Press & Public Relations Officer tel. 0161 244 5129.
• Essex & Suffolk Water Cara Hall, Corporate Affairs, tel. 0191 301 6720
• Consumer Council for Water Amy Weiser, Press Officer tel. 0121 345 1006
1. The Community Legal Advice helpline – 0845 345 4 345 provides free independent legal advice in debt, welfare benefits, employment, housing, education and family law to people on low incomes. Callers who are not eligible for free help are referred to other quality organisations that can help. The helpline is open Monday – Friday until 8.00 pm and on Saturday mornings until 12.00 pm.
2. The Community Legal Advice flyer that is sent to customers is attached to the email. The Legal Services Commission runs the legal aid scheme for England and Wales. More information is available at www.legalservices.gov.uk
3. Essex & Suffolk Water supplies water in Chelmsford, Southend and Romford in Essex and from Lowestoft to Aldeburgh in Suffolk.
4. The Consumer Council for Water represents the interests of water consumers across England and Wales. Since October 2005 it has taken up over 75,000 consumer complaints about water and sewerage companies, secured over £135 million in extra investments and reduced prices and gained £9.6 million in direct compensation and rebates for customers. Find out more at www.ccwater.org.uk. The Council has put a link to Community Legal Advice on their website’s Consumer Support pages to help customers with difficulties with payment. Please see https://ccwater.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/434
5. The amount of arrears which triggers recovery action will vary from customer to customer. But anyone with £25 or more arrears who has disregarded a bill and a red reminder could potentially receive a pre-claim letter with the Community Legal Advice flyer.
6. Over 200,000 pre-claim letters are sent out each year. The letters are triggered by the customer falling into arrears so are sent out steadily throughout the year.
7. As part of the pilot scheme in March and April this year, a Community Legal Advice flyer was sent out by Essex & Suffolk Water to customers who were due to be contacted by the bailiffs. The pilot has resulted, so far, in a 5% return in calls to the helpline. This is high compared with the usual return on a marketing campaign, which is usually between 1 and 2 %. The calls were not just about water debt but about other social welfare problems, such as welfare benefits, housing and family law.