Solving the Utilities Bad Debt Crises with Better Data

Suppliers should go upstream and leverage their customer data to reduce debt and/or prevent this debt from occurring in the first place. One of the key factors cited for this was the increase of bad debt provisioning within the utilities industry. In fact, the utilities industry has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with EDF Energy alone reporting losses of £160 million. Bad debt refers to loans or outstanding credit balances owed that are no longer deemed recoverable and must be written off, and unfortunately, the pandemic has sent a tidal wave of bad debt towards the utilities industry, as the number of customers unable to pay their bills increased exponentially.

Utilities companies must start with the basics: ensuring their customer data is correct. If utilities companies don’t have up-to-date information for their customers, they may still be billing businesses that have shut down, or families that have relocated, with no easy way to recoup cost, whilst wasting time and money in the process. Utilities providers have options on how they go about tackling bad debt and supporting vulnerable customers, but the responsibility must rest on their shoulders. While recouping costs is a must, utilities companies can’t just rely on regulators to recoup costs. They need to use methods that don’t penalise their entire customer base, and tackle the cause of the issue, not just treat the symptoms. Analysing customer data to categorise billpayers contributing to bad debt can help achieve this, as well as identify and assist vulnerable customers who need help now more than ever.