SOUTH West Water (SWW) has been rated poor by the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) over the number of complaints it receives from customers and the way it handles them.

Having published its annual household complaint handling report, the CCW found SWW rated poor on both complaint volume and handling metrics.

The report found that, overall, complaints to water companies fell by eight per cent, but complaints brought directly to the consumer watchdog reached their highest level in nine years.

Billing remained the top complaint category, within affordability concerns surging by 110 per cent and complaints about bill increases jumping by 138 per cent.

Environmental complaints dropped by 31 per cent, but remain significantly higher than two years ago, indicating ongoing public concern about pollution and sewerage issues.

Mike Keil, Chief Executive of CCW, said: ‘Although it’s encouraging to see complaints to water companies falling, more households are turning to CCW for help than at any point in the last nine years.

‘Bills remain the top concern for households, and we can see April’s unprecedented price rises are already hurting a lot of people.

‘Clearer communication from companies could prevent many of these complaints by helping customers understand how their money is being spent and what support is available if they are struggling.

‘Seeing is believing: if people are paying more for their water, they need to see real improvements in the services they receive’.

In a statement SWW said: ‘Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and when things go wrong, we work hard to put them right as quickly as possible.

‘We recognise that we have more to do, and we are already taking action to try and provide a resolution the first time a customer contacts us.

‘Our contact centre staff have received additional training and are committed to improving the service they provide.

‘In response to customer feedback, we have also made our bills easier to understand and have a new dedicated section on our website providing answers to the questions we get asked about the most’.