Londoners struggling with the cost of living will have their water bills cut automatically under a partnership led by Thames Water.
The company has teamed up with 17 borough councils and a data analytics company for the scheme – the first of its kind in the UK water industry.
The WaterHelp scheme ensures that customers in financial difficulty automatically receive the help they are entitled to, even if they don’t know they are eligible.
The initiative is part of Thames Water’s ambition to boost support for customers in need of financial assistance.
After a successful pilot in Wandsworth and Richmond Upon Thames, Thames Water is rolling out the scheme across another 15 London boroughs.
Almost 15,500 households have been earmarked to receive financial support so far. In the long term, it is expected that about 33,000 struggling households will save more than £300 on average – equalling over £10 million a year in total.
Under a pioneering data sharing agreement, Thames Water, the councils and the data firm, Policy in Practice, can identify customers whose water bills exceed five per cent of their equivalised net income.
They will then be automatically enrolled onto the scheme, which will see their bills halved.
The partnership is also in the process of identifying other customers who should be on its WaterSure social tariff, or are eligible for Extra Support Scheme assistance of up to £700.
How the scheme works
The key aim is to ensure customers will receive financial assistance if they are:
• either unaware of Thames Water’s affordability schemes or their eligibility
• unable to apply, or
• reluctant to seek help
Customers do not need to be in arrears to be eligible for financial assistance; however, for this auto-enrolment scheme Thames Water is identifying households who are in arrears.
Assessment will be based on the data held by the councils and the Department of Work and Pensions before customers are automatically enrolled on any of the available schemes.
To qualify for the WaterSure social tariff, households with a water meter will qualify if someone is receiving means-tested benefit and either has a medical condition that requires extra water or three or more children under the age of 19 living at home. Their bills are capped at the average of what other customers pay.
However, most of the customers helped in this scheme are expected to qualify for WaterHelp assistance rather than WaterSure.
Nina White, Director of Income at Thames Water, said: “Our purpose is to deliver life’s essential service, and we are determined to support those customers who are struggling to pay their bills.
“This partnership with the local authorities and Policy in Practice allows us to reach thousands of customers who previously may have been unaware that our WaterHelp scheme can help them. We’re looking forward to the rollout extending to more boroughs across London, with customers enrolled on the scheme automatically if eligible.”
Deven Ghelani, from Policy in Practice, said: “Thames Water is leading the way as the first water company to offer automatic enrolment onto a social tariff, worth millions of pounds, across London. We want to bring more water companies and local authorities together by connecting data to make life easier for them and their residents.
This expansion follows a pilot earlier this year in Wandsworth and Richmond Upon Thames, where more than 1,800 households received a total of £650,000 in financial support.
Across its region, Thames Water supported more than 400,000 households with its social tariff and provided £116 million-worth of customer assistance in 2024/25.
