How we have helped customers with their bills
Pete's Story
Pete has been on Employment and Support Allowance for many years and manages well with his fortnightly payments, he pays his water on a payment card each time he gets his benefits paid. He was worried about how he would keep money aside each month to make his fortnightly water payments.
How we helped
Pete was encouraged by his work coach to get in touch with our affordability team as he was worried, he wouldn’t have the words to explain his situation over the phone. Pete was relieved when he spoke with Irene in the team, she was aware of the budgeting difficulties moving to Universal Credit can pose and the support schemes we have available to help people just like him. Pete was relivered he could get a payment break of up to three months to manage the switch from fortnightly to monthly payments if he needed this. Irene was able to switch Pete onto a monthly payment plan with his water payment in line with his Universal Credit payment date so Pete can budget his money well.
Pete was reassured he was already paying the lowest water bill based on his circumstances and his payments could be made when his Universal Credit is paid, for some this would be an opportunity to set up a Direct Debit, but Pete’s felt it was better to keep the payment card.
Rose's Story 
Rose had been out of work for almost two years and was receiving Income Support. She was finding it increasingly difficult to pay her household bills and had already fallen behind with her water bill payments and was becoming increasingly worried about this which led to Rose giving us a call.
How we helped
Rose called our affordability team on 0800 072 6765
After talking this through with the customer, and understanding more about her income and expenditure, we immediately transferred Rose to our Back on Track scheme. This scheme is specifically for people just like Rose who are receiving benefits and behind with their water bill payments.
The good news is that we were able to reduce Rose’s annual bill to just £120 a year, a reduction of almost £250.
As Rose was already in a lot of debt with us, she was also eligible for our Payment Matching scheme. This meant that for every £1 Rose pays towards her debt, we pay £1 too, which increases to £2 if she continues to make payments until her debt is cleared.
Joyce's Story
Joyce had never considered herself to be struggling with her bills, they were just something that needed to be paid. Both Joyce and her husband Robert did their best to avoid falling into debt with the Pension Credit they received. However, with household bills continuing to increase, Joyce was beginning to find it more difficult to make her water bill payments on time and called United Utilities to see if we could help.
How we helped
Joyce called our affordability team on 0800 072 6765
After talking this through with Joyce, it was clear that Joyce was eligible for our Help to Pay scheme. This scheme is aimed at people just like Joyce who are receiving Pension Credit and struggling with their water bill payments. The scheme reduced Joyce’s bill by over £150 a year which really helped to take the pressure off Joyce’s finances
To help with budgeting we also set Joyce up on a monthly Direct Debit which also reduced Joyce’s annual bill by an extra £5
Chris's Story 
Chris had never really worried about paying his water bill but suddenly finding himself being made redundant left him in a difficult financial situation with bills to pay.
Seeing that he may quickly fall behind with his water bill payments, he contacted United Utilities to find out if we could support him until he found a new job.
How we helped
Chris called our affordability team on 0800 072 6765
After talking this through with Chris and seeing how his redundancy had put pressure on household finances, we were able to put Chris on our Payment Break scheme.
This allowed Chris to stop paying his bill for three months, after which time he was hopeful to be back in work and able to start paying his water bill again. We also spread the cost of his delayed payments across the next 18 months to make sure that Chris didn’t struggle repaying the missed payments
We also directed Chris to our website to discover more about those organisations who provide free financial advice for people who have been made redundant. We also recommended that Chris try the benefits calculator on the Turn2Us website to see if he was eligible for any benefits now that he was out of work.
| What our customers say |
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"Scott was absolutely so lovely, I'm struggling with my bill at the moment, and he really was so sympathetic, and looked into my circumstances and was able to get me some discount, I was quite anxious at first ringing up but by the end if the conversation I felt so much better, I really am so grateful for that thank you so much!" |
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"Justin was very polite and efficient and dealt with my query in good time. Money advice advised me I could be entitled to a reduction in my water bill because of my illnesses. Justin reduced my water bill for me by putting me on the support tariff which I did not know about. Thank you Justin" |
"Nathan provided outstanding customer service when I recently contacted United Utilities regarding some financial difficulty I was having. He listened intently to my situation, understood my limitations and provided me with a solution that not only was quick but also suited my situation exactly. It was a breath of fresh air dealing with such professionalism and empathy"