CCW Reviews 353

I cannot agree with the AI summary of reviews.
My experience was one of absolute support in trying to resolve the issue I had with my water company.
Whilst CCW were unable to achieve the full outcome I had hoped for, their mediation on my behalf was most helpful, saving precious time using their ability to reach the right people to negotiate with.

I found CCW very helpful, particularly Dave who handled my complaint until its successful resolution. The unfortunate truth is that there is only so much they can do to push back against the despicable practices of the water companies - in my case Thames Water, who literally just made up a huge bill with no evidence to support their case. I was never going to pay it, but without CCW's help I'd now be dealing with debt collectors and eventually a CCJ etc.

Reference 250620-000116
I spoke to a Mr Nick Smith who was extremely helpful and efficient.I sought his help regarding problems I was having with Thames Water,one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with.
They installed two water water in my property on the 2/4/25 but 4 months later insisted I didn’t have any meters !! So I sent them a photograph but still they haven’t converted me to meter billing,trying to overcharge me about £100 based on rateable value.I had to stop my direct debit to take control after being blocked via useless chatboxex and the Agents saying I had no meters.F Nick Smith came to my rescue,contacted a senior complaints manager and I am told matters will be resolved by the 22/7/25.
THANK YOU NICK SMITH of the water consumers counci

The CCW were very slow to respond to my complaint initially, required numerous chases to find out what was being done. Allowed severn trent water to be non-engaging and obfuscating.

Phillip was incredibly supportive, attentive and dedicated to fairness.
He advocated for me with thames water and was able to get an incorrect mark on my credit file reversed, inspite of their resistance.
This is a huge relief and couldn’t have been done without the support of CCW

Back in February, Thames Water left me without water for a considerable period. They initially promised compensation but later came up with a string of unconvincing excuses to avoid paying. It was incredibly frustrating and felt like a dead end.

Thankfully, I reached out to CCW, and I’m so glad I did. Philip, in particular, was outstanding – professional, attentive, and supportive throughout the entire process. With his help, I was finally able to secure the compensation I was rightly owed.

CCW kept me informed at every stage, showed a high level of competence, and were truly committed to resolving the issue. They are a first-rate organisation and a real ally when dealing with unresponsive water companies.

If you’re having trouble with Thames Water (and I know many do), don’t give up. Contact CCW – they will be your strongest supporter.

The CCW supported me in a case against Thames Water - who had issued a missed payment on my credit file, through their own fault.

They defended me and got a positive outcome for me.

Through the experience - they kept me informed via simple to understand emails and phone calls.

Thank you, CCW.

I turned to CCW after an ongoing dispute with Thames Water regarding a leak that wasn’t on my property, but charged to my account. After exhausting all avenues with Thames Water, and trying to claim the leak allowance, they only refunded a fraction of what I was owed, closed the case and refused to speak to me any further. After getting CCW involved, they did however agree that they had miscalculated and I was reimbursed the full amount. Had I not contacted CCW I would have been out of pocket and would have had nowhere else to turn.

I am extremely grateful for the service I received, and would encourage anyone to at least give them a go if needed - you’ve got nothing to lose!

Another one of those UK institutions/mediators to give you the impression that there’s something you can do against the abuse of power of companies like Thames Water. From their own account they cannot help or challenge tariffs, calculations, decisions, nothing. They’re where taxpayers money goes to die, nothing else, should disappear and save us some money.

Right from the beginning CCW contacted me and kept me informed of the progress of my complaint against Thames water. Special thanks must go to Dave, who handled the complaint in its latter stages and went the extra mile when Thames insisted that they were not at fault. Dave pursued that, discovered a mistake by Thames and obtained a refund for me . Good service all round.

Following a callback from the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 today, I am now replacing my original review...

𝟭𝟭/𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱: 𝟭*
Unfortunately, the case has been closed without resolution in a surprising number of areas and my rating has dropped to a "𝗗𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲" 𝟭*.

Once a water company declines to respond further it has now been made clear to me that the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 has 𝗻𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 over the water companies; I was also informed that 𝗢𝗳𝘄𝗮𝘁 itself does not have statutory power over them either.

Water companies are thus a law unto themselves; 𝗿𝗲-𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝟭𝟬/𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱: 3*
"We help consumers resolve complaints against their water company or retailer, while providing free advice and support. We 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 and 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀, governments and regulators."

First of all: the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 professionals do indeed strike me as being keen to progress issues once the complaints procedure of a given water company has been exhausted.

However, my experience of interfacing with the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 is not entirely what one would have expected; especially given the extremely drawn-out nature of the resultant exchanges.

My thoughts (so far):

1) The 𝗖𝗖𝗪 attempts to map customer input into specific questions to be passed onto the respective water company. Since the customer is not provided with the actual questions that will be passed on, this can lead to confusion amongst all parties.

2) I had assumed from the opening web site quotation that the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 would be able to make a more high-level judgement on what are the minimum standards of service that all water companies 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 achieve.

Taking two examples:

i) 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 continually sends advice about water reduction, due to concerns over water shortages, but also continues to fail to more fully utilise its own technology to provide timely alerts to potential leakages in their customer's properties. Yes, those customers who are aware of the online usage interface (I had not been) can logon to check every few days, but 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 is actively monitoring it, but does not actually send SMS or email alerts. Intermittent water loss through faulty valves would not even trigger their eventual mailed notifications following continuous usage over 1 fortnight! Surely, the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 can lay down mandates for such minimal levels of technological water reduction mechanisms?

b) 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 processes Data Quality questions through its Data Protection Team (!?) Such communications are not even seen by the Complaints Team. In this case I had questioned why there were so few nitrate/nitrite samples in the local zone, whilst the neigbouring zone (that contains a mains pipe whose loss affected the local zone) had considerably more. By pure coincidence, the newly released report (for 2024, since these are allowed to be heavily delayed) now has the same number of samples for both the local and neighbouring zones. [Actually, I had also noted that Scottish Water does not delay its annual water data quality reports, but the rest do?]

3) There is no status function as to the progress of the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 complaint process; this is compounded when multiple sub-issues are being handled at the same time. For example, I have no idea whether a communication from me will lead to a further message to 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 or an escalation to the Arbitrator.

4) I took the option of submitting a Data Protection Act Subject Access Request (𝗦𝗔𝗥) to 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 and received ALL of the phone recordings and most of the documentation exchanged, in parallel to the progression to the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 and so I can readily see when there are discrepancies between new and prior statements. Actually, an early call to 𝗖𝗖𝗪 stated that considerable amounts of background information was provided directly to them (presumably similar to the results of a 𝗦𝗔𝗥), though I have not been at all clear that this has proved to have been as beneficial to the 𝗖𝗖𝗪 as it has been to me!?

No acknowledgement to my email for over a month. Terrible service.

The complaints process was not explained well at the beginning....I didn't know it was in various stages and the time involved.

I first contacted the CCW by phone in January 2025. It was then transferred to a case worker in March 2025. Then finally a Consumer Relations Advisor at the CCW, Shahzaib, wrote to Thames Water in May. Shahzaib was extremely helpful, explaining everything, putting it all in an email to me.

The CCW managed to get a good resolution from Thames Water, which I am sure I would not have got without their help.

Terrible service - no easy way of getting hold of someone after SWW failed to answer calls, emails, etc from my elderly mother.

I need someone to get hold of South West Water and for them to help my elderly (79) mother. They've massively over billed her and she's now very worried.

CCW is in reality, a body that represents the interests of water companies across England and Wales. This is a clear conclusion taken from a 4 page full of rubbish letter received today, after a complaint against Water Thames. Thames Water increased our bill 78.76%. Nothing was done but to agree with the increase and stating the companies can do whatever they want. From £276.05 (2018) to £438.61 (2024) to £639.16 (2025), £200.55 increased in just one single year! While in 2023 it paid 196 million pounds in dividends to its shareholders, and over the last 4 years 62 million pounds has been paid out to company Executives in Bonuses! They ask consumers to pay millions for their mismanagement disaster! And the answer from CCW is just ridiculous! They entitled themselves "The voice for water consumers"! What a joke! UK Government and all the parties represented in the UK Parliament are all accomplices for not doing anything about it and feed with millions of pounds these fake organizations sucking money from our pockets! What a waste of time and our money! Shame on CCW!

Please refrain from misrepresenting facts. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is not a charity; it is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). CCW is funded by water customers through a charge levied by Ofwat on water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. This charge is passed to Defra, and CCW receives its funding through grant-in-aid from Defra. Established under the Water Act 2003, CCW's primary role is to represent the interests of water and sewerage consumers in England and Wales......However, in practice, CCW appears to prioritize the interests of the dirty water supply companies over those of consumers. ....Useless , waste of money.

Logged a complaint with them regarding a dispute with Thames Water at the beginning of April. Have had no response or update from CCW. Have rang them on 3 occasions requesting a manger or case handler to call me back to update. After 2 weeks still no reply despite being promised a call back on at leas 2 occasions of a call within 48hrs. When you ring them the manager is never available to speak on the phone and staff refuses to give a reason why. Staff lie about managers not being available and attempt to miss lead you about why you still haven’t received a response. Staff call you a nuisance over the phone as well as hang up on you for no reason.
Not sure why this company exists other than to stop you calling the ombudsman with an actual complaint.

CCW and Thames water seem to be working hand in hand, just a lousy response from Thames Water on my repeated requests for Water Meter, they completely denied that their engineers had done inspection twice and CCW sent an email saying you have not exhausted your options to resolve matters with the water company. I have been requesting water company for months, very disappointing!

complete waste of time - CCW seems ot be Thames water so not sure why they pretend they will listen to your complaint. They took Thames water side in all the point of disatisfaction I felt, took 4 months to cme to a conclusion which is to do nothing and the only suggestion they had was get a lawyer to act on your behalf!

Complete waste of time - incapable of doing anything. Poor communication, takes 4 months to get back to you and say they're unable to do anything else.
This is why water companies get away with whatever they want in this country. Shame on such terrible standards