South West Water has sharpest rise in complaints

The number of customer complaints received by South West Water has more than doubled in the last year - the sharpest rise across all water and sewerage companies in the country, new figures show.

Complaints made by households directly to all water companies rose across the board by 56% in 2025-26 - with complaints to the firm surging by 153%.

Meanwhile, both South West Water and Thames Water were rated "poor" by the consumer watchdog, in regard to the number of complaints received, and how the firms handled them.

South West Water said it was "taking action" to improve and it "knows there is more to do to improve our customers' experience".

While South West Water came second to Thames Water in the number of complaints per 10,000 connections in 2025-2026, the firm had the sharpest rise, the Consumer Council for Water said.

The watchdog - an independent body which represents consumers in the industry - assesses each company's performance on the number of complaints it receives for every 10,000 households it serves and the amount of effort customers have to put in to get their complaint resolved.

Both South West Water and Thames Water were rated "poor" for both performance measures, making them the worst performing companies.

Catherine Jones of the consumer council said: "This is the second successive year South West Water has found itself among the worst performers for complaints."

Citing "significant bill rises" over the past two years, she said customers "need to see their money is being well spent and making a difference where they live - whether that's cleaner seas and rivers or getting the support they need when they are struggling to pay their bill."

In 2025-26, South West Water received 18,938 complaints - or 183 per 10,000 connected households.

That was a rise from 7,485 the previous year.

Billing issues were the main source of complaints in 2025-2026, the data shows, making up 76% of the total, followed by water with 17% and wastewater with 6%.

Meanwhile, complaints about South West Water to the consumer watchdog - those which are escalated after going through the company complaints procedures - also more than doubled from 284 in 2024-2025 to 716 in 2025-2026.

Southern Water had the sharpest rise in watchdog complaints in this category, with a 166% increase, followed by South West Water and then Anglian Water.

Again, concerns and confusion over rising water bills fuelled the largest-ever increase in complaints about water companies to the consumer watchdog.

The overall number of complaints made by households directly to their water company rose to 321,347 in 2025-26 from 205,853 in 2024-25.

It comes after water companies were given the green light to increase bills for customers by an extra £3.4bn in coming years to meet increased pressures on infrastructure and the environment.

Portsmouth Water and Bristol Water were the only companies to be rated "good".

The consumer council said it "continues to challenge and advise the industry", while it said it is also making the case for "fairer and more consistent support" for those unable to afford their water bill.

South West Water said: "We know there is more to do to improve our customers' experience.

"We are taking action by reducing repeat contacts, resolving issues when people contact us for the first time, and ensuring they receive clear, timely communication.

"We value the feedback we receive from customers, and we have strengthened complaint ownership internally and increased proactive updates to help put customers at the heart of everything we do."

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC Radio Cornwall's Julie Skentelbery his party wanted to "take the profit out of the water industry".

"We've got a model, which works in other countries, which takes the profit out... and can get the job done," he said.

"The problem we've had with water privatization, and it's been dreadful in Cornwall, the impact it's had on water quality and sewage, it's just really failed to turn it around."

Sir Ed said: "Vast amounts of money to shareholders and big bonuses to the top managers."

He said more money needed to go into "essential investment" to supply clean water and keep beaches and rivers "clean of filth".

His comments have been put to South West Water for comment.

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