United Utilities has launched a scheme to help retailers identify false vacancies and improve occupancy data.
Two systems – gap site incentive and vacancy incentive – find business customers that are not being properly billed because of incomplete data.
More than 16,000 applications for corrections have been made to UU by retailers, who are offered a payment by UU for identifying and correcting information in CMOS (the market operating system).
UU said the schemes have already brought 4,000 business premises in the north west back into charge, which it claimed is the “biggest improvement in occupancy data of any intervention since market opening”.
Paul Stelfox, head of business market services at UU said many businesses could be using water without being billed for it either because there is a gap in data or it is incorrectly marked as a vacant site.
“That’s a problem for other water customers because there is a limit to the total revenue we can recover – therefore the more customers who are paying for their water the lower we can keep everyone’s bills,” Stelfox said. “But for retailers, the cost of bringing these premises back into charge was often higher than the tight profit margins they operate to.”
Michele Marshall–Jackson, head of market operations at WaterPlus, which is a joint-venture between UU and Severn Trent, said: “Site use can change in a short time, including being converted to living accommodation, and some businesses do not realise they need to inform a retailer when they move into – or leave – a property, even if they have received a letter, so, on top of raising awareness around this, it’s also increasing improved data sharing across the industry.”
Barry Millar, director of Waterscan, welcomed the schemes as a motive to improve market data at source.
“We are proud to assist in the biggest improvement in market occupancy data since market opening,” Millar said. “The competitive landscape of this scheme is not without its challenges, but Waterscan has invested heavily to ensure we are well placed to provide swift and accurate results, believing this scheme sets a precedent for the entire English water market.”