How to complain to Anglian Water
You cannot switch household water supplier in England and Wales, so the usual consumer lever of taking your business elsewhere does not exist. What does exist is the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, a statutory list of service failures that trigger a fixed payment automatically, whether or not you ask.
The rights that apply when you complain to Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a UK water company, so the rules below are the ones that decide your complaint. Each is named, because a letter that cites the specific rule is handled by a different team to one that does not.
- A fixed payment is due automatically when the company misses an appointment, fails to answer a written complaint within 10 working days, interrupts your supply beyond the permitted period, or floods your property with sewage. Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) Regulations 2008, the Guaranteed Standards Scheme
- The company must keep to the standards of service in its charges scheme, and Ofwat can act where a company is systematically failing. Water Industry Act 1991, as amended
- Any work carried out at your property, such as a meter fit or a leak repair, must be done with reasonable care and skill. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49
- You can ask for a meter, and in most cases return to unmeasured charging within a set trial period if the meter makes your bill worse. Water Industry (Charges) (Vulnerable Groups) and metering rules
Anglian Water complaints line: 03457 145 145 — put the complaint in writing as well. A phone call leaves no record you can rely on later.
The deadlines that decide your claim
10 working days — the reply clock
A written complaint must be answered within 10 working days. If it is not, a Guaranteed Standards payment falls due on its own, separately from whatever the complaint is about.
8 weeks — when CCW takes it on
After eight weeks, or on a deadlock letter, the Consumer Council for Water will take the complaint up on your behalf.
After CCW — WATRS adjudication
If CCW cannot resolve it, the Water Redress Scheme can adjudicate. WATRS is free to you and its decision binds the company if you accept it.
What to put in the letter to Anglian Water
Complaints teams work from a script. The detail below is what moves a case off that script and onto the desk of someone who can authorise a remedy.
- The dates and times of every missed appointment, supply interruption or flooding incident, because each one may carry its own fixed payment.
- The date of your first written complaint, so the 10 working day standard can be measured.
- Photographs and, for flooding, any independent report, which materially changes how the claim is assessed.
- An explicit request for the Guaranteed Standards Scheme payments as well as the remedy itself.
If Anglian Water says no, or says nothing
Escalate to the Consumer Council for Water, then WATRS.
When you can go: CCW will take it up after eight weeks or on a deadlock letter. WATRS follows if CCW cannot settle it.
How long you have: CCW asks you to come to them within 12 months. A WATRS application must normally follow within a few months of CCW closing the case.
What it costs: Both are free to you.
Whether it binds Anglian Water: CCW cannot compel the company. A WATRS adjudication binds the company if you accept it.
Worth knowing before you start
There is no ombudsman for water in the sense that energy and telecoms have one. CCW is a consumer advocate and cannot force an outcome. WATRS is the binding step, and it is the one worth naming in your letter.
Common questions
Do I have to claim the Guaranteed Standards payment, or is it automatic?
It is supposed to be automatic, and companies must pay within a set period of the failure. In practice they miss them, particularly for missed appointments and late complaint replies. List every qualifying failure in your letter with its date and ask for the payment by name. Companies almost never argue once the standard is cited.
My bill has jumped and I think the meter is wrong. What can I do?
Ask the company to test the meter. If it is found to be over-reading outside the permitted tolerance, the company must correct your bill and normally bears the cost of the test. If it reads accurately, you may be charged for the test, so ask what that charge is before you agree.
Can I withhold payment while a complaint is open?
Water companies can recover unpaid charges through the county court, and unlike energy they cannot disconnect a household but they can pursue the debt. Pay the undisputed part, put the disputed part formally in dispute in writing, and ask for recovery to be paused pending the complaint.
Where this comes from
Every rule on this page is drawn from primary legislation, a regulator, or an approved dispute resolution scheme. Check them yourself.
Paybacker is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. It is a summary of the published rules that apply to a water company, so that you can put your own case properly. For a dispute of real value, or anything turning on facts unique to you, speak to a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
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