Information for Customers in Scotland Relating to Coronavirus (Covid-19)

We understand this is a difficult time for many businesses and we want to help. In addition to providing a range of flexible payment plans, we have also put in place additional measures to support those most in need (please see below for further details regarding our Deferral Scheme). If you are having difficulty making payments then please contact our dedicated team on 0330 123 2000 who will be happy to help.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) has recently confirmed a new industry-wide support package - the Wholesale Charge Deferral Scheme (WCDS) - for businesses who have been impacted by Covid-19. We are offering an enhanced version of this scheme to provide further support to our customers.

Under our scheme, we can defer water and waste water charges until the 31st December 2020 (recently extended) for those businesses who have been impacted. Please note, for those customers with a larger meter (25mm or above) then the deferral will apply to consumption charges but fixed charges will remain due and payable. The deferral will apply to all charges you haven’t yet paid for, including those which pre-date the initiation of lockdown measures. Once the deferral period is over, we will contact you to arrange a payment plan.  We recognise that the impact of Covid-19 will be felt for many months to come, which is why you can repay the deferred charges over a 12-month period, allowing additional time for your business to recover.  To enable you to keep track of your deferred payments, we will continue to issue invoices to you as normal during this period. If you would like to make contributions towards your charges at any point then you can do so, whilst remaining on the scheme, but there is no expectation that payments will be made.

For those customers on direct debit, please note that there is no need to cancel your direct debit as we won’t take any payments until the deferral period is over. Once the deferral period is over then your direct debit payments will resume for new charges and we will contact you to arrange a payment plan for your deferred charges.

For those customers who have already paid their charges in advance, then under the Prepayment Refund Scheme introduced by WICS you can opt to have any pre-paid charges refunded. Please note that the repayment won’t apply to services already used. Please see separate FAQ for further details.

If you have received a letter from us stating that we have deferred your charges but you would prefer to continue making payments as normal then you can choose to opt out of the scheme by completing this webform.

A new industry-wide scheme - the Prepayment Refund Scheme has recently been announced by the water regulator for Scotland which is designed to support businesses in Scotland who have been impacted by Covid-19 and who have already prepaid their water and waste water charges for the year. Under the Scheme, we can send you a cheque for your prepaid services that have not yet been used. We can also auto-enrol you onto our payment deferral scheme which means that your water and waste water charges will be temporarily deferred until the 31^st December 2020 (recently extended). This deferral scheme is an enhanced version of the industry-wide Wholesale Charge Deferral Scheme (WCDS) which was announced recently and is designed to support businesses in Scotland who have been significantly impacted by Covid-19.

Once the deferral period is over, we will contact you to arrange a payment plan for the deferred charges. Recognising that the impact of Covid-19 will be felt for many months to come, you can repay the deferred charges over a 12-month period, allowing additional time for your business to recover. Please note, if you would like to make contributions towards your payments at any point during the deferred period then you can do so, whilst remaining on the scheme, but there is no expectation that payments will be made. Any new charges for services used after the 31^st December 2020 will need to be paid as normal, however, you can choose to pay in full or you can spread the cost over a number of months by utilising one of our payment plan options.

We have written to all our customers who we believe would benefit from this scheme. If, however, you didn’t hear from us and you have been impacted by Covid-19 and have prepaid your charges in advance then please complete this webform to register your interest in the Scheme. We will then be in touch with you shortly with further details.

We understand this will be the case for many businesses. If you are a metered customer then in order to ensure that your bills reflect your actual consumption, please fill in our online form, and where it is safe to do so, submit two meter reads two weeks apart. We will then be able to amend your bill accordingly. If you are unmeasured (don’t use a meter) your charges are based on the rateable value of your property, which means your charges will remain the same.

As members of the UK Water Retail Council, we are working with the Regulators, the UK Government, Wholesalers and other agencies to implement a range of measures to support businesses during this time. We will continue to keep you updated on developments.

In Scotland, if a business ceases trading and moves out of the property, charges will continue up to the point that the business no longer has a legal right to occupy the property (e.g. a lease has ended naturally or has been terminated by a landlord). At that point we will issue a final bill which will include charges up to the move out date. After this bill, either the landlord or the property owner will be liable. If you are moving out of your property then please use this link to let us know the move out date and final meter read so that we can ensure your final bill reflects your actual consumption.

If you are having any issues making payments then we’d be more than happy to help you find a flexible payment plan that will work for you. Please contact one of our friendly advisers on 0330 123 2000 who will be happy to help. 

The health and safety of our employees and customers is of upmost importance. We are working with our external partners, including meter readers, to ensure they are following Government guidelines and taking extra precautions at this time. If you have any concerns then please do let us know. We will continue to keep this under review and provide any updates on our website.

Given your business has been closed for a period of weeks, there are some simple steps you can take to ensure your water quality hasn’t been impacted and your pipes are working properly:

• Stagnated water can lead to water quality issues. Make sure you run all your taps individually to ensure that the water in your plumbing system is fresh. Run the water until it is clear and feels cool.
• Ensure that all appliances are thoroughly flushed through before use. Details on how to do this will be provided in the appliance’s instruction manual.
• If your property has any water softeners or internal filters then please check that these are working correctly, as instructed in the manual guides.
• Check for any leaks. Whilst not always visible, if your tap continues to drip when you turn it off or your toilet is continually running then this may mean you have a leak. If you suspect a leak then contact us on 0330 123 2000.

For further details, please read this guide produced by the UK water industry body, Water UK.