Through the deal, the water company will provide Experian with information on how its customers manage their accounts, including payment history and outstanding balances. Yorkshire Water will in turn get access to information provided by other members of the Credit Account Information Sharing service.
Yorkshire Water, the first water firm to become a full member of Experian’s scheme, will also be able to access a customer’s full credit history, with their permission, when opening a new account. Subsequently it will be able to tailor payment plans to individual customers and tackle issues such as “bad debt” developing.
Jonathan Harding head of customer service at Yorkshire Water said: “With increased financial strain on households, there is an increasing need for us to understand and gain insight into those customers who are facing financial hardship.
“Putting in place the tools to share data and utilise credit information, will help provide a reliable early warning of customer behaviour and how that might play out over time. It will also make us better placed in the utilities sector to understand our customers and adapt effective payment plans to ensure our customers are being treated fairly and that we are responding to individual circumstances and needs.”