Yorkshire Water supports vulnerable customers with the help of Callcredit

Callcredit Information Group has today (29 June 2015) announced a new contract with Yorkshire Water which will help the company identify and support customers who are under pressure with the cost of living. 

Yorkshire Water serves over five million customers across the region and as part of its commitment to be a responsible business the company looks into ways in which it can identify and support vulnerable customers. 

Customers who potentially qualify for help will be transferred to a specialist Yorkshire Water team, who with consent from the customer on the call, will use Callcredit's data to obtain a complete picture of the customers current and past circumstances to help identify the level of support available. This unique insight will help to identify customers who may be struggling with multiple bills and who are at risk of going into debt on their water bill.

Tim Sheer, Head of Billing and Collections, Yorkshire Water said: “Yorkshire Water customers already benefit from having some of the lowest water bills in the UK. However, we know the cost of living is a real concern for some of our customers and we want to do what we can to support those that are struggling.

“We have a number of schemes aimed at helping vulnerable customers and those struggling with debt and we recently launched our new Water Support tariff, which is designed to help to prevent customers on low incomes getting into debt in the first place.

“Our new partnership with Callcredit will help us to identify the customers most in need of support and will allow us to tailor a payment method suitable to their circumstances.”

Martyn Cladingbowl, Head of Utilities, Callcredit Information Group said: “We’re delighted to be helping Yorkshire Water support those customers most in need.  Understanding each individual customer isn’t easy but with our data Yorkshire Water can now help identify vulnerable customers before they get into debt and provide the right level of support.”

Alongside using information provided by Callcredit Yorkshire Water has been promoting the support available to vulnerable customers at events across the region and encouraging people to contact them if they think they could be eligible for assistance.

Yorkshire Water has recently been named a finalist in Business in the Community’s ‘Responsible Business of the Year’ awards, in part for the company’s range of initiatives to provide financial support mechanisms for those that struggle to pay their bills. The company aims to increase the number of customers it supports to 24,000 each year.