Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, has criticised water companies for using 'baffling' language that prevents millions of vulnerable people from accessing help with their bills. Giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, Lewis said firms ask for 'equivalised income' when assessing eligibility for social tariffs – a term he admitted he did not understand.
'Crap at communicating'
Lewis told MPs: 'The point I’m making is if none of us in this room knows what that means – and I don’t know what that means – then I think it’s probably not a good way to communicate it to vulnerable people.' When asked if companies deliberately used such language to avoid offering help, he replied: 'I tend to think it’s because they’re crap at communicating. I tend to think this isn’t conspiracy, it’s just crap. I think that what the regulator could do is crack down on crapness.'
He called for a communications audit of how water companies present their social tariffs, and suggested standardising tariffs across the industry: 'Far better if they all had the same social tariff and we could have centralised, really good communication.'
Millions missing out
According to Policy in Practice, 3.8 million households are missing out on water social tariffs, Lewis told the committee. He compared this to broadband, where 7.5 million households miss out, and energy, where he said the biggest problem is the lack of a social tariff altogether. Lewis described the current energy price cap as a 'pants cap' that leaves vulnerable customers, such as a 90-year-old with dementia, paying more than him for the same energy use.
'We have a halfway house between a market system and price regulation and we have the worst of both worlds,' he added. 'So there are some really big systemic problems going on in all these sectors.'
Citizens Advice echoes concerns
Anne Pardoe, head of policy at Citizens Advice, also gave evidence, highlighting low awareness of social tariffs: 'A really big problem is a lack of standardisation, as Martin said. It makes it really difficult for people to work out what they’re entitled to and also to claim it as well.' She noted that the government missed an opportunity by not adopting a single social tariff for water, as recommended by the Cunliffe Independent Water Commission.
On broadband, Pardoe said the voluntary scheme gives companies 'absolutely no incentive' to promote tariffs. She also raised concerns about the increasing use of AI chatbots, which often trap customers in 'an endless cycle' when they try to contact essential service providers. 'It’s on regulators to really monitor this very carefully,' she said. 'It’s really essential that people are able to contact their essential services providers when they’re having difficulty.'
