Southern Water is very grateful for the support from organisations giving advice to our customers, as well as those giving assistance as friends/relatives/carers.
We aim to give excellent service to all of our customers by providing a range of services for those customers with individual needs.
We understand that dealing with large organisations like ourselves can sometimes be complex. This page is designed to give advice on how to resolve issues on behalf of your client and our customer.
Data Protection Act
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 we are unable to discuss personal information with individuals not registered on an account without authorisation from the account holder.
Any information which relates to a living identifiable individual, e.g.
- Customer name
- Balance outstanding
- Previous or forwarding address
- Occupation dates
- Payment details
- Bank account details
- Correspondence
- Debt recovery action
- Payroll number
In order to discuss our records with anyone not registered on our records it is advisable to contact us in the presence of the account holder. They can then confirm they are happy for the account to be discussed. Alternatively, if the account holder provides us with a password, which will be used by the representative contacting us, we will be more than happy to discuss the account in detail.
Help for customers who are having difficulty paying:
We can arrange for customers to pay their water bill monthly, fortnightly or weekly by arranging a payment scheme.
If your client did not meet the required criteria for the options available under “Difficulty paying your bill” please contact our Debt Advice Centre freephone on 0800 027 0363 for further advice on paying the account using a payment scheme facility.
Help for customers who are elderly or disabled:
As you will see in the section headed “Services we offer” there is a wide range of facilities available to your clients if they are elderly or disabled. However, if the options listed are not applicable to your client please contact us on 0800 027 0800 to discuss their individual needs.
Help for customers with a technical issue:
Where your clients have problems with their water supply or wastewater services, advice is available from our technical call centre on 0845 278 0845.
Help for customers with a complaint:
Sometimes we get things wrong, but when this happens we want to put things right quickly. We have a user friendly complaints procedure. Further information on the standards customers can expect from their water company can be found at: www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/rightsresponsibilities