Water suppliers told to cut customer bills by £158m over poor performance
Water suppliers have been ordered to return £158m to customers via lower bills after failing to meet key targets around pollution and leaks.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Ofwat, the water regulator, has told water companies to issue refunds over missed targets and poor performance.
Here, we look at how much each supplier is paying out, what it means for your bills, and how to complain about your water company.
How much will each supplier refund customers?
Water companies across the UK have been ordered to issue refunds.
Thames Water will be making the largest rebate, totalling £56.8m, followed by Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.
Find out how much your water company is set to pay out in the table below.
If you're unsure who your water supplier is, you can find out on the Water UK website.
| Water supplier | Refund amount |
| Thames Water | £56.8m |
| Anglian Water | £38.1m |
| Yorkshire Water | £36.0m |
| Southern Water | £31.9m |
| Welsh Water | £24.1m |
| South West Water | £17.4m |
| South East Water | £8.0m |
- Find out more: my water supply's been cut off, can I claim compensation?
What does it mean for my bills?
The rebate will come into force next year, so bills for 2025-2026 will be discounted automatically.
Ofwat says it won't know the exact amount coming off customers' bills until December, but it's been speculated that customers could only see their bills decrease by less than £10.
However, there are plans to increase water bills by an average of £94 across England and Wales over the next five years.
These price hikes – which are still being negotiated with water suppliers – will be used to fund investments into replacing pipes and reducing sewage pollution.
Water firms argue that even higher bills are needed to tackle some of these key issues. Ofwat says the £94 increase is a third lower than the hikes suggested by suppliers.
How to complain about water issues
Perhaps you have an issue with low water pressure or maybe your billing or water meter isn't running properly.
For all of these issues, you should start by contacting your water or wastewater supplier with as much details on the issue as possible. We recommend contacting them via email so you have a written record of your communication with them.
If you're not satisfied with the outcome, you can follow your water and sewerage company's official complaints procedure.
And if the issue still isn't resolved, you can escalate the complaint to the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater), which is independent from your water and sewerage company. You can do this using an online complaint form, calling or writing a letter to make your complaint.
After this, unresolved issues should go through CCWater’s complaints procedure and then the Water Redress Scheme (WATRS). However, you can only complain to WATRS if your water supplier is a member.
Finally, contacting Ofwat is the last resort if your issue remains unresolved. It has details on how to make a complaint on its website.
- Find out more: I'm having problems with my water, what can I do?
