Politics
Water companies have the audacity to set bailiffs on people
New data from the House of Commons Department of environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA) committee has exposed the debt collection practices of robber-baron water companies.
These water companies are sending bailiffs to tens of thousands of homes across England and Wales. Often, the debts they’re collecting on are for less that £1,000.
DEFRA committee chair Alistair Carmichael MP said:
It is interesting and concerning to see the extent of their use of bailiffs over time and to see such differing approaches. The figures should be seen in the context of various cost of living shocks that have hit households over recent years.
For any family or individual to be subject to legal action is no small matter and can be a cause of severe stress and anxiety. We would urge any company to review its practices and ensure they are as sparing and compassionate as possible. We have referred this information to Citizens Advice and the Consumer Council for Water for further scrutiny.
Water companies: one rule for them, another for us
As Carmichael alluded to, the collection methods the suppliers employ vary massively according to where you are in the UK. Overall, Yorkshire Water, Southern Water, and South West Water (SWW) made the heaviest use of bailiffs, when the data is adjusted for population. Meanwhile, Wessex Water hasn’t used bailiffs for over a decade.
However, other companies also made massive use of debt collectors on specific years. For example, Severn Trent sent bailiffs out 11,574 times over 2022. Even more egregiously, Southern Water instructed bailiffs a staggering 15,707 times in 2019.
Labour MP John McDonnell highlighted the fact that water companies have broken the law hundreds of times in recent years, with little real backlash. He said that:
Only five directors of water companies have been prosecuted in the last 30 years. Contrast that with the thousands of mainly poor people the water companies set the bailiffs on each year.
The system is more interested in prosecuting families that are struggling to pay their water bills than the company directors responsible for pollutin g our rivers and seas while lining their pockets from profiteering at the expense of both their customers and our environment.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the suppliers have to say for themselves, shall we?
Yorkshire Water
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:
Our focus for any customer entering arrears is to assess vulnerability and provide support where necessary, through early engagement, financial support schemes, clear communications and signposting to external assistance with financial issues. Enforcement action is a last resort and is only taken against customers who we determine, using internal data and external credit agencies, have the ability to pay their bill but are choosing not to.
Well that’s nice, isn’t it? Only, Yorkshire Water has done some other fucking around with people’s debts recently, haven’t they?
Labour recently introduced a 15% cap on the amount that the DWP could take from people’s benefits to pay off debt. Yorkshire Water used this as an excuse to complain that it would lose out on that debt collection. Previously, it made £11m a year from the DWP garnishing benefits.
So yeah, Yorkshire Water claims that it only sends bailiffs to the houses of those who can afford it. They just forgot to mention that, until April 2025, they had the DWP doing the bailiffs’ job for them.
Southern Water
A Southern Water spokesperson said:
We work hard to ensure customers who are struggling get the support they need, such as our social tariff schemes. We’re delivering our biggest ever investment plan, spending around £8.5bn to meet the expectations of our customers in protecting the environment and improving services.
£8.5bn is an awfully large number. What a magnificent investment in Southern Water’s infrastructure. Only, maintaining that infrastructure and protecting the environment is literally a water company’s job.
Southern Water’s spokesperson regrettably failed to mention that it needs to invest that much because it hasn’t been doing its job. In the Environmental Agency’s most recent report, Southern Water was guilty of 15 serious pollution incidents. This made it the second worst environmental offender in the country.
Then, of course, there’s the small matter that we already paid to fix the shoddy infrastructure with our past bills.
South West Water
A South West Water spokesperson said:
We only ever use enforcement action as a last resort. Our priority is always to support customers who are struggling, and we offer a wide range of financial support.
Lovely, that – mind you, there’d probably be a bit more financial support available if SWW weren’t also busy awarding its CEO a massive £300,000 pay rise.
Meanwhile, the water that SWW delivered to Devon was so riddled with parasites that it caused an outbreak of diarrhoea in 2024. Just two days ago, on 4 March, SWW pleaded guilty to the criminal offence of causing those infections. They affected 2,500 homes, causing 150 people to fall ill.
According to the Guardian, SWW will likely face a fine of “hundreds of thousands of pounds”. In the same year as the outbreak, Pennon Group – SWW’s parent company – announced an 8.6% increase in its underlying operating profits, bringing the total to £166.3m.
Thieves and thugs
There are words for the likes of Yorkshire Water, Southern Water, South West Water and their CEOs. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to publish most of them.
For now, we’ll settle for calling them a pack of state-sanctioned thieves in command of an army of thugs. These companies profit from a monopoly on fucking water, the most essential resource of life.
They claim they need money for infrastructure maintenance, but for some strange reason, the infrastructure isn’t maintained. When we don’t pay, they set the bailiffs on us. When they don’t pay, they get a slap on the wrist and an insignificant fine – and they still pay out dividends to the shareholders.
Fines are not enough. Ofwat and the Environmental Agency are not enough. The courts are not enough. Only stripping these companies of their control over our water will end the – very literal – shitshow that is privatisation.
Featured image via the Canary