GETTING ANSWERS

Our Code of Practice on complaints

www.nwl.co.uk

Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 1 22/10/2015 11:28 GETTING ANSWERS

OUR CODE OF Our guaranteed standards of service set PRACTICE ON out our service levels and how we will COMPLAINTS compensate you if things go wrong. You can get a copy of this leaflet, called Here at Northumbrian Water, our aim is to Our promise to you from our website give you the service you expect all day, www.nwl.co.uk or by calling us on every day. 0345 717 1100. We try hard to avoid problems, but sometimes they do occur. If you do have a problem, we would like to hear from you.

If you are unhappy about our work or service and we know about it, this gives us the opportunity to put things right for you and make improvements so that other customers may benefit.

This leaflet sets out: • How to let us know you have a complaint. • How we will manage your complaint. • How to take it further if you are still unhappy. • How to get more information about our services.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 2 22/10/2015 11:28 LETTING US KNOW Deaf and hard of hearing customers can We always aim to deal with your contact us using Text Relay – just prefix complaint as quickly as possible and By telephone: any of our listed numbers with 18001 promise to respond within a maximum 0345 733 5566* for billing and account and a Text Relay operator will join the call. of 10 working days from the date we enquiries. Monday to Friday from 8.00am Alternatively you can let us know the name receive it. If your complaint is more until 8.00pm and Saturday from 8.00am of someone you trust who has agreed to complex, we will keep you informed as we until 1.00pm. talk to us on your behalf. investigate in more detail. If we fail to meet this standard we promise to automatically 0345 717 1100* for general enquiries Contact us by email through our website pay you £50. about water and sewerage services. www.nwl.co.uk. Monday to Friday, from 8.00am until In person 8.00pm, and Saturday from 9.00am In writing: We will listen to your complaint and do until 1.00pm. Northumbrian Water our best to deal with it immediately. This number is also available 24 hours PO Box 200 We will investigate your complaint and for emergencies. Durham contact you within 10 working days with DH1 9WG our response if we cannot resolve it at *Calls may be monitored and recorded the time. in order to improve service quality and We take your complaints very seriously employee training. and we will be in touch, as we prefer to In all cases talk to you to try and resolve any We will also investigate a complaint made If English is not your first language we concerns as soon as possible. If we can’t on your behalf by a third party and this offer a free telephone translation service. contact you by telephone, we will send includes family members, friends, Let us know which language you require our response in a letter or an email. carers or welfare associations. However and we will arrange for an interpreter to we will not disclose any sensitive join the call to assist. personal information about you without first making security checks or asking for your permission.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 3 22/10/2015 11:28 MANAGING YOUR Our records are assessed independently by members of the Consumer Council COMPLAINT for Water on a regular basis. Each year information is given to and the All of the customer complaints we receive Consumer Council for Water on the are recorded on the day of receipt and number of complaints and our speed of stored on a computerised system. If you response. This information is published so register a complaint, we will give you that performance between different water a contact name and that person will companies in and Wales can investigate your complaint and respond be compared. to you. With all complaints we welcome the If your complaint relates to a billing matter opportunity to resolve any problem by which requires investigation and cannot telephone so we can address your therefore be immediately resolved, concerns as quickly as possible. any action to recover the debt will be suspended until our investigations have Whatever the method you choose to been concluded and you have been complain, we will make an automatic informed of the outcome. payment if we fail to meet any of our promises. Every month, our directors receive a report on the number of complaints and Some customers receive their sewerage the speed of our responses. We also services from another company. If you are check the quality of the responses we not sure who to contact, please call us for give and continuously try to improve the this information. service we provide.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 4 22/10/2015 11:28 TAKING IT FURTHER INDEPENDENT REVIEW GOING TO ARBITRATION We believe that an independent review If your complaint is about any of the is an essential safeguard for our following matters, it may have to be INTERNAL REVIEW customers, and constructive to decided by an arbitrator: Please let us know if you are not satisfied improvements in our service. On any • Conditions for installing a meter. with the response you receive. occasion when we are unable to resolve • Regulations for preventing a complaint to your satisfaction, you can contamination or waste. Please call: 0345 155 0237 refer it to the Consumer Council for Water, • Regulations on water fittings. an independent organisation which acts as • Compensation for streetworks. Write to: a watchdog on your behalf. It will Customer Care Review team investigate your complaint through its We offer a scheme through the Chartered Northumbrian Water own procedures and ask us why we Institute of Arbitrators, which allows an PO Box 200 took the decisions we did – and inform independent arbitrator to make a decision Durham you accordingly. quickly. Please contact us if you would like DH1 9WG more information on this process. The Consumer Council for Water offers The members of the Customer Care independent advice. You can visit its Review team will not have been involved website at www.ccwater.org.uk, call in dealing with your initial complaint and 0300 034 2222 or write to: will therefore always be independent of The Consumer Council for Water the original investigation. They will carry c/o 1st Floor out a full review of your complaint. They Victoria Square House can override or support the original Birmingham B2 4AJ response. Either way, they will respond Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8.30am to you within ten working days. until 5.00pm.

The Consumer Council for Water makes sure consumers’ complaints are being handled promptly and efficiently.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 5 22/10/2015 11:28 WATER AND OFWAT A limited number of types of complaint Ofwat is the economic regulator of the are dealt with by Ofwat, rather than by the SEWERAGE water and sewerage industry in England Consumer Council for Water. For these WATCHDOGS and Wales. It sets the price limits for types of complaint, you should still contact each company, but also protects and us in the first instance, but if you remain Water is a regulated industry. This means monitors the standards of service you dissatisfied you may decide to submit that there are a number of independent receive. It also expects companies to a complaint to Ofwat. organisations that oversee the activities improve their services by becoming of water and sewerage companies. They more efficient. These complaints include: have a direct influence on every area of • Those about our powers to lay pipes our business from the quality of water The address and telephone number is: on private land. we supply, to the amount we charge • Concerns that we are allegedly our customers. Ofwat breaking our licence conditions or City Centre Tower our main water supply or sewerage Acting as watchdogs, they make sure that 7 Hill Street duties. we do our job well, that we care for our Birmingham • Complaints about anti-competitive customers and that we meet rigorous B5 4UA behaviour under the Competition Act standards, both for the quality of our 1998, for example colluding on supply and for the service we provide. Tel: 0121 644 7500 pricing or bidding for contracts. In short, they work in your interests. Fax: 0121 644 7559 Email: [email protected] At Northumbrian Water, we aim to exceed the standards set by the watchdogs. Ofwat does not generally handle complaints from individual customers. Please contact us in the first instance, and then if you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Consumer Council for Water, using the contact details on the previous page.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 6 22/10/2015 11:28 DISPUTE DECISIONS • The charges or disconnection costs • The effectiveness of an alternative Ofwat can also decide on certain disputes that must be paid to us before a sewer that has been provided to but you should still contact the Consumer business customer’s supply replace an existing one that is due to Council for Water first, because it may is reconnected. be closed. be able to resolve your complaint more • A refusal to allow you to pay by • A requirement that a proposed drain quickly on an informal basis. If it is not measured charge because a meter is or sewer is built so it can become successful then it will consider referring not practical or is unreasonably part of a general sewerage system. the complaint to Ofwat for formal expensive to install. resolution. Ofwat will then conduct a • Appeals on the transfer of private Ofwat also decides appeals from formal investigation of the dispute and we sewers and pumping stations. occupiers of trade premises who are not must follow their decision. These disputes • A refusal to allow private sewers and happy with a refusal or the conditions set include the following: drains to be connected to public by us about putting trade effluent into the • A customer’s right to a payment or sewers, or a requirement to inspect public sewer. credit under the Guaranteed the drain or sewer before allowing Standards Scheme. a connection. WATRS REDRESS SCHEME • The charges and conditions set by us • The costs and security we ask for to ‘If your complaint remains unresolved for making connections to connect premises to a sewer. after it has gone through all the stages of water mains. • The charges and conditions for our complaints procedure and has been • The terms and conditions for a providing a sewer (requisition). reviewed by CCWater, you may be non-domestic supply. • A proposal or refusal to adopt eligible to take your concerns to WATRS, • The need for a customer’s property to sewers or sewage-disposal works, the Redress Scheme who have a separate service pipe. or about the conditions in an can provide an independent binding • The charges and conditions for adoption agreement. decision. Details on how and when to providing a water main (requisition). • The position or suitability of a drain or apply can be found at www.watrs.org. • The terms and conditions for the sewer to replace an existing private Further details can also be found on our adoption of a self-laid main. drainage system which we consider website at www.nwl.co.uk. to be unsuitable.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 7 22/10/2015 11:28 DRINKING WATER Further information can be obtained from: INSPECTORATE (DWI) Drinking Water Inspectorate Area 7e The Drinking Water Inspectorate makes 9 Millbank sure that water companies supply water c/o Nobel House that is safe to drink and meets the 17 Smith Square standards which have been established London for drinking water quality. Every day we SW1P 3JR test tap water. DWI inspectors independently check these tests and Telephone: 0300 068 6400 audit our laboratories. They also inspect Email: [email protected] those aspects of water operations which Website: www.dwi.gov.uk ensure drinking water is safe at all times. The reports are available from the DWI website at www.dwi.gov.uk/about/annual-report.

The Government has set legal standards for drinking water in the Water Quality Regulations. Most of these standards come directly from European law and are based on World Health Organisation guidelines. The UK has additional standards to safeguard the already high quality of water in England and Wales. These standards include wide safety margins covering bacteria, chemicals - such as nitrates and pesticides, metals and even the look and taste of water.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 8 22/10/2015 11:28 (EA) The contact details for the EA are: The Environment Agency is responsible for the control of pollution in rivers, National Customer Contact Centre underground waters and in coastal waters, PO Box 544 flood defence, fisheries and navigation. Rotherham The EA also monitors air pollution and S60 1BY waste management. General enquiry line: 03708 506 506 The EA is a public body that controls the (Monday to Friday from 8.00am until amount of water we can take from rivers, 6.00pm). underground sources and other inland waters. It also oversees the strategy for Emergency hotline: 0800 807 060 maintaining and developing future water (freephone). resources to ensure a fair balance between the environment and the needs Floodline: 0345 988 1188 of water customers. Email: [email protected]

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 9 22/10/2015 11:28 FINDING OUT MORE To order any Code of Practice leaflet in Braille, This leaflet forms part of our Code of Practice for domestic customers, which large print, CD or on provides customers with essential information about our company. Our audio tape, please call Code of Practice is approved by Ofwat. 0345 717 1100.

Other leaflets within our Code of Practice We also offer information leaflets on are available: water efficiency in the home and garden, • Our promise to you (our service level sewer flooding and protecting and how we compensate you if things the environment. go wrong). • Our sewerage services. • Managing debt (our Code of Practice on debt). • Dealing with leaks (our Code of Practice on leakage, guidance on pipe ownership and our repair policy). • Extra Care - can we help you? • Your water meter (a guide for domestic customers). • Getting water to your home.

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Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 10 22/10/2015 11:28 11 | Getting answers

Getting answers NW v11 AR.indd 11 22/10/2015 11:28 Northumbrian Water Abbey Road Co Durham DH1 5FJ

www.nwl.co.uk

January 2015

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