Water bill warning over arrears

Consumers are facing a new area of rising debt – water bill arrears.

Official figures have revealed consumer complaints about water companies have been falling, but chief executive of the Money Advice Trust Joanna Elson said that while this is the case, a much more concerning problem is arising.

She remarked: "The number of people calling us for help with water debts has been sharply increasing over the last couple of years."

Ms Elson added that while the typical proportion of those in debt contacting the organisation who are behind on water bills is between two and four per cent, this has risen to nine per cent in the past 18 months, with 10,000 calls received by the Trust so far this year.

She added: "The sobering fact is that paying water bills is clearly becoming increasingly difficult for many households across the country."

Nor is the problem likely to disappear in the near future, Ms Elson concluded.

Such comments may indicate that the need for debt help is widespread and problems are arising from hitherto uncommon sources.

In recent months, more concern has been expressed about energy bills and what is defined as fuel poverty – a situation in which households have to spend at least ten per cent of their income on heating and lighting the home.

Consumer website uSwitch recently estimated that the combined effect of the price hikes announced by the big six energy companies this summer and early autumn will be to put another 570,000 households into this situation, making the total 6.9 million.

By Joe White