Southern Water has been named as one of the UK’s top ten companies for complaint handling as it reduced customer complaints by 40 per cent over two years.
The Institute of Customer Service recognised Southern as the only utility company to make its top ten with improvements continuing from its 2015/16 reduction of 30 per cent.
The wider sector saw rises in complaints, according to watchdog Consumer Council for Water, which reported a four per cent increase in complaints from domestic customers about services provided by water companies.
The head of billing and collections at Southern, Mark Field, said the company was “incredibly proud of its achievements”.
Field said: “This is testament to the hard work delivered over the past four years which has focused on improving the customer experience through focusing on proactive customer case management and making improvements across our billing and operational front-line service.”
The company has assisted 195,000 customers with schemes and tariffs for people in need of extra support. Under its Water for Life business plan covering the next five years, Southern intends to make more improvements to its customer service including reducing customer bills.
The non-domestic sector has been criticised by Consumer Council for Water this week for failing to get basics such as customer billing right as it continues to receive high numbers of complaints.