Closing Gaps in Customer Data

To Avoid Penalties and Regulatory Fines

Without a joined-up view over the complex sets of data they hold about their millions of customers and properties, water suppliers will find it very difficult to meet Ofwat’s PR19 measures. And with Covid-19 plunging a quarter of UK citizens into poverty, supporting vulnerable customers will become more important, but finding those that need support will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Regardless of whether it’s sitting in various siloes or a central data lake, if suppliers don’t put their customer data to use, opportunities to increase revenue and provide support to those who need it the most will be lost. The first step is to review the existing data – checking all customer details, such as name and addresses are correct. They will identify many cases where bills are going unpaid due to incorrect data. This will identify any mistakes on bills that impact revenue and could have huge ramifications for customers’ credit ratings and accounts can be sent to debt collection agencies unnecessarily, so need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Improving data quality takes time, but wave after wave of targets and demands will continue to crash into shore. Now’s the time for suppliers to get moving, so they can improve performance in the short-term, and put themselves in a strong position ahead of the even greater regulatory demands placed upon them further down the line.