YORKSHIRE Water has been slammed as ‘poor’ in a damning report by a watchdog, as unresolved complaints about the company rose by a massive 90 per cent in 2023-24.

The report, from the Consumer Council for Water, (CCW) looked at complaints made by household customers directly to water companies, and those that were escalated to the consumer watchdog for resolution.

At Yorkshire Water, customer complaints that the company failed to resolve rose by 90 per cent in 2023-24. Only one water company – Thames Water – had a worse performance.

The Bradford-headquartered firm said it is committed to improving its customer service, and investments to achieve this will be included in its plan for the next five years.

“We are disheartened to see Yorkshire Water’s position,” says the watchdog’s report.

“Despite a slight decrease in complaints made directly to the company  - and some minor improvements on billing and sewerage – this performance is still unacceptable.

“Most concerningly, the company’s ability to resolve complaints has declined – its Stage 2 complaints have increased by 20 per cent, and complaints to CCW have increased by 90 per cent.

“CCW has recently carried out a complaint assessment and we will be looking for the company to act on our findings.”​

The watchdog compares the performance of water companies on the number of complaints they received per 10,000 household connections, as well as assessing how well these were handled. Thames Water and Yorkshire Water were the only two water and wastewater companies to be rated as poor on both performance measures.

Dr Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Households are having to waste far too much time and energy resolving complaints, which water companies should be getting right first time. Trust in the water sector is already badly fractured and the poor handling of complaints will only compound people’s frustration."

Responding to the report's findings, Imran Patel, group customer experience director at Yorkshire Water, said: “We work really hard to make sure we do the right thing for our customers and we're continuing to invest in new systems, training for our customer experience teams and our reporting to ensure we improve the service our customers receive.

"We have worked closely with CCW to audit our complaints process and have received positive feedback for our customer-focused culture and the speed and effectiveness of complaints resolution."

He added: “Of course, we recognise we need to do more and have included in our PR24 plans for 2025-2030, which are awaiting approval from Ofwat, a series of investments designed to improve our customers’ experience when dealing with us.

“What matters to our customers, matters to us too, which is why we are committed to improving our customer service, Yorkshire’s environment and ensuring no household or business should be without reliable, safe, clean water.”

CCW is the independent voice for all water and sewerage consumers across England and Wales, providing advice and information on water matters and investigating complaints if a water customer has been unable to resolve an issue with their water company or water retailer.