How the Open Water business water retail market works

Most businesses, charities and public sector organisations in England can shop around for their water and wastewater retailer like they do for other goods and services. In Wales, you can also choose your water retailer if you use more than 50 million litres of water a year.

Find out more information below about:

• how the market works.
• who is eligible.
• how customers are protected.
• who’s who in the market.
• becoming a retailer.
• the costs and benefits of the business retail water market.

who is eligible

Most businesses, charities and public sector organisations in England – and those using more than 50 million litres a year in Wales – can choose their water retailer.

But some won’t be eligible.

Eligibility largely depends on:

• whether premises are used mainly for business, rather than domestic use.
• where the existing water and/or wastewater supplier is based.

Use our eligibility guide to find out whether your business is eligible.

how customers are protected

Businesses, charities and public sector organisations are protected in the open water business retail market in a number of ways

Your choice

At the most simple of levels, a customer is protected by their ability to choose. One of the advantages of a competitive market is that if you are unhappy with your retailer, you can switch to a new one, provided you are not in a fixed term contract. Your bill includes information about whether you are in a fixed term contract, and if so, when this expires.

How retailers treat you 

• There are rules about what a Retailer can charge customers who have not engaged in the market or who have decided not to switch and therefore remain on ‘deemed’ contracts. You can find out more about this here: REC price protections.
• If you decide to switch, you will receive a formal contract from your new retailer. This will detail price you will pay for the services you will receive. This has the same legal protections as any other agreement for the supply of goods and services.
• All retailers must comply with Ofwat’s Customer Protection Code of Practice. This sets out a number of measures which protect customers. These measures include:
  • Using clear and plain language and prohibiting mis-selling of services.
  • Requiring retailers to issue at least one accurate bill or invoice each year, containing clear information about how the bill has been calculated.
  • Issuing a final bill to a customer within six weeks of contract termination or switch date;
  • Limiting the period for which a customer can be back-billed to rectify past billing errors or underpayment; to 24 months preceding the date of the bill.
  • Delivering basic guaranteed standards of service (known as GSS). Where retailers fail to meet these standards, they will have to pay you a set amount of money – see: Standards of services – Ofwat.
  • Rules on Third Party Intermediaries (known as TPIs). TPIs are companies or agents who act as a broker or a go-between when negotiating a contract for you. Retailers are required to obtain written customer confirmation – known as a letter of authority – that the third party may act on your behalf.
  • Retailers may use third parties to represent them in sales and marketing activities. If they do so, they must take responsibility for the actions of their representatives and take steps to ensure that they act in accordance with the Customer Protection Code of Practice. From 17 April 2025, Retailers will be required to only work with TPIs which operate in accordance with principles of good practice laid out in the Customer Protection Code of Practice, and to co-operate with TPIs which are representing a customer unless they have good reason not to do so.
  • If you are a micro-business (less than 10 FTEs), a cooling-off period once a contract has been signed.

Monitoring the performance of the market

In addition to these protections, Ofwat monitors the performance of the market and retailer resilience using a range of measures, including:

• defined targets.
• regular reporting.
• customer experience.

We take action on your behalf to make sure the market works effectively

Further information on how you are protected in the market

You can find a summary of the main protections available to you under the Customer Protection Code of Practice in our leaflet ‘Customer Protection Code of Practice – summary for business customers‘.

supplying retail services

The open water business retail market also offers the opportunity for new companies to enter the market and compete on equal terms with other retailers.

All retailers need to obtain a national licence from Ofwat before they can operate in the business retail water market in England. This licence is known as a water supply and/or sewerage licence for retail services, or WSSL.

Retailers and wholesalers in the market must comply with codes of practice that govern the two-way arrangements between a wholesaler and a licensed retailer, as well as a Customer Protection Code of Practice to make sure businesses are protected and not disadvantaged.