For example you may:
- Be of pensionable age
- Are disabled
- Have an illness which affects your day-to-day life
- Are pregnant or live with children aged 5 and under
- Have a mental health problem
- Have a hearing or sight condition
- Have a poor sense of taste or smell
- Are unable to or have difficulties in communicating in English or Welsh
- Have a cognitive impairment, learning disability, developmental conditions or dementia
- Require additional showering or bathing due to a health condition
- Have physical impairments
- Are going through a disruptive life event, such as bereavement
Water companies offer a range of extra help to customers that need it.
Examples of the services that water companies can provide include the following.
- Bills and other literature in accessible formats. You can ask for large print, disc or braille communications, and have your bill read out to you over the phone before they send it.
- More warning of supply interruptions. Sometimes water companies need to turn off the water supply to do work in your area. Tell them now if you have special medical needs – for example, kidney dialysis at home – and they will give you early warning of their plans.
- Create a password. You can set a password that any water company employee will use if they knock on your door.
- Moving your meter. If you have a meter and it’s difficult to reach and read, your water company may agree to move it for you. Alternatively, your company may offer help with meter reading so that you can monitor your water consumption.
To receive these services, you may be asked by your water company if they can add you to their ‘priority services register’ or ‘PSR’. You can also ask your water company to be added. And you can also register if you need short-term support.
A priority services register is a water company’s record of customers that need extra help – and the help they can expect to receive.
If you think that you would benefit from extra help with your services (or know someone that would), please contact your water company for more information on the help they can provide you.
Further information on priority services
We have set out guidance to the water companies on the services they should offer to customers who need extra help. The guidance make sure that you are not put at a disadvantage because of your age, disability or illness in comparison with other customers.
Each water company keeps a record – called the priority services register – of the customers that need extra help and the services they should get.
We also provide guidance to water companies about their priority services register. This includes:
- adding you to their PSR as soon as possible
- confirm to you that they have added you to their PSR, for example, through a welcome letter or email.
The communication they send you should:
- provide you with information about the support that you will receive from the company
- when you can expect different types of support – such as whether you will receive bottled water deliveries in the event of your water supply being interrupted for a certain amount of time
- include details of how you can contact the company, in case your needs change
- be made available in accessible formats
Your water company may also contact you once every two years to check whether your needs have changed. But you can tell them if your needs have changed at any time.