Make a complaint

We offer independent advice and help to customers who have been unable to resolve a complaint with their water company or retailer in England and Wales.

First talk to your water company or retailer

If you’re not happy with the service provided by your water company or retailer, you can make a complaint to us to try and fix the problem, but first you’ll have to follow your water company or retailer’s complaint process before we can help you.

Explain to them the problem you’re having. You can make a complaint in writing, by telephone or by any other contact method your company offers, just be clear to say you’re making a complaint. This gives them the chance to put things right for you. They have 10 working days to reply to you. If you’re still unhappy with their response, you can ask them to review their decision. They then have another 10 working days to resolve your complaint.

If you make your complaint in writing and the company doesn’t respond in 10 working days, you’re entitled to a payment under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS).

  • Be clear that you’re making a complaint.
  • When putting your complaint in writing, be clear about the main issues. It’s best to do this using bullet points rather than wordy paragraphs.
  • If you can, provide the company or retailer with a timeline.
  • Keep all the evidence. This might be bills or letters your company has sent you, or copies of documents, photographs, or other forms of evidence to support your complaint.
  • Be clear about what you’re expecting to be done. What outcome are you aiming for? Do you expect an apology or action, such as the company visiting your address to look at a problem or a bill to be revised?
  • Remember to raise all of your points. If you give new information or add a new issue later in the process, the company has the right to consider that separately, as a new complaint, which can delay the issue being resolved.

How to complain to us

If you’ve been through all the steps in your water company or retailer’s written complaint process and you’re still unhappy with the results, we can help.

We deal with all customers fairly, but we don’t expect our staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour. Please be polite.

  • Call us on 0300 034 2222* (England), 0300 034 3333* (Wales)
  • Use our online complaint form
  • Send us a letter to: CCW, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham B2 4BH

* Calls may be recorded for training and quality monitoring purposes.

We only accept photocopies of any documents, as we won’t keep hard copies. We are also unable to accept special postal deliveries on weekends and bank holidays as our offices are closed.

Complaints we can't help with

We’re here to help with any issues involving a water company or retailer but sometimes we can’t provide all the help you need.

Examples of issue we can’t help you with

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