69,000 customers financial support

Yorkshire Water has surpassed its financial year target of helping 69,000 customers to pay their bills, just five months into the current financial year.  

Yorkshire Water has seen an increase in customers using its financial support schemes. The water company has upskilled its staff to support customers in accessing the schemes, as well as increased its partnerships with external organisations, such as debt charities, to ensure it can reach struggling or vulnerable people. 

Yorkshire Water has four main financial help schemes:  

• WaterSupport, which helps customers on lower incomes, with income-based benefits, pay water charges 
• Community Trust, an independent charity at Yorkshire Water supporting customers who have arrears 
• Watersure, which can help low-income households where there are larger families, or customers who need to use additional water for a medical condition 
• Resolve, which helps those who are struggling with debt to catch up on previous bills 

The average saving for a WaterSure customer is £534.00 a year and for WaterSupport it is £211.87. 

Angie Markham-Nock, customer support manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on finances for people across the UK – and we have seen a big uptake in customers signing up to our support schemes as a result.  

“Financial hardship can be very stressful, and we’re so pleased to be able to support our customers so that they don’t have to worry about paying their next bill.  

“Our team are experts in signposting and explaining the schemes to customers, and we’ve simplified our online application forms to make it even more accessible. We’ve surpassed our annual target just five months into this financial year, and hope to support many more customers over the next seven months and beyond.”  

For more information visit https://www.yorkshirewater.com/bill-account/help-paying-your-bill