Find the company and account details
Use the bill, account number, address, supply address, meter serial number, and the Water UK supplier finder if needed.
Complaint route
Send the right issue to the right body.
Billing and service complaints usually start with the water company. Pollution, drinking-water quality, and information-rights issues may need different official routes.
Billing or service complaint
The normal escalation route
Complain to the water company first
Ask for a written response. State the problem, dates, readings, what you want checked, and the outcome you are asking for.
Escalate inside the company if needed
If the first reply does not answer the evidence, ask for the complaint to be reviewed under the company's complaints procedure.
Contact CCW
CCW is the statutory consumer body for water customers in England and Wales. It can help with unresolved company complaints.
Use independent ADR if eligible
Check the current CCW and water-industry ADR route once the complaint has reached the right stage and is within scope.
Official complaint and regulator links
Find your water company
Use this if you are not sure who supplies water or wastewater services.
CCW complaint support
Escalate unresolved billing or service complaints for England and Wales.
Current ADR update
Water UK's May 2026 update on independent dispute resolution for eligible unresolved water complaints.
Ofwat complaint route
Regulatory route for issues Ofwat can consider, not a substitute for CCW case help.
Report pollution to EA
Use for sewage, fish kills, water pollution, and other environmental incidents in England.
Report pollution to NRW
Use for environmental incidents in Wales.
DWI water quality advice
Use when the issue is drinking-water taste, odour, colour, safety, or quality.
ICO official information route
Use where an environmental information request or public information route has gone wrong.
Guaranteed Standards Scheme
Check whether missed service standards may trigger automatic or claimed compensation.
Regulators and contacts
Use the route finder for CCW, Ofwat, DWI, EA, NRW, ICO, ASA, and supplier lookup links.
May 2026 update
The post-CCW adjudication route is changing.
Water UK announced on 15 May 2026 that Dispute Resolution Ombudsman would provide free independent ADR while government works towards a statutory water ombudsman. Check CCW and the ADR provider before applying.
Evidence pack
Make the complaint easy to check.
Good complaint evidence is dated, labelled, short, and tied to the outcome you want.
Keep the route clear.
CCW is usually the practical consumer route for unresolved billing and service problems. Ofwat regulates the sector but does not replace the normal complaint path for individual bill disputes.
Open all official links