WARRINGTON-based United Utilities has achieved a glowing report for the lengths it goes to when supporting vulnerable customers across the North West and now holds an internationally recognised accreditation.
The region’s water company was given top marks in every area against the new ISO Consumer Vulnerability Kitemark, with assessors saying they had no recommendations for improvement in light of the comprehensive Priority Services scheme that the company offers.
The accreditation comes as the number of people registered on the United Utilities Priority Services scheme hit 300,000. The scheme provides a range of additional help from nominating a trusted person to help with an account, to additional help in the event of a loss of supply. The free service is open to all customers who would benefit from extra support whether due to age, ill health, disability, mental health problems, financial worries or language barriers.
In the evaluation for the international standard, assessors looked at how the company makes its services accessible to all through a variety of communication methods, and the ways it supports colleagues so they have the skills and confidence to help customers in the most appropriate way. They also considered how United Utilities ensures compliance with regulatory requirements, met people from across the customer team and listened in to calls to understand how the processes are put into practice when a customer gets in touch for help.
The company achieved every part of the standard with no non-conformances, and it is now one of the first in the industry to hold the accreditation.
Sally Ainsworth, Head of Customer Services at United Utilities, said: “We’ve been verified against the British Standards BS18477 certification for the past three years, so to be among the first water companies to gain the new international ISO accreditation is absolutely fantastic and testament to our commitment to helping our customers.
“We’re really proud of our Priority Services scheme and the lengths that our colleagues go to when supporting our customers living in vulnerable circumstances, so this accreditation is really about our people and their dedication to providing such high levels of personalised support.
“Assessors were really impressed with how our customer care approach is embedded right across the organisation, the range of help we provide, and our constant desire to improve. To receive the new international standard without a single non-conformance was really the icing on the cake.”
Heather Barker is one of the team leaders who met with assessors during the four-day review. She said: “Even though we have previously been part of the British Standards verification we were still pretty nervous as we know how good a job we do supporting our customers and wondered how we could get this across to the auditor.
“We were able to talk about all the extra training we have had which enables us to tailor our support to individual needs, including autism, mental health and dementia awareness sessions from charities specialising in living with vulnerabilities.
“We know life is tough and it can be daunting for many of our customers to pick up the telephone, but when they do we want to make sure they receive guidance and support and, if possible, go away with a smile on their face as well.
“We all say being part of the Priority Services team is a very rewarding job and we get incredible satisfaction from being able to go the extra mile for our customers with additional needs.”
United Utilities was the first water company to share its Priority Services Register data with the energy sector, and is now sharing with all district network operators in the North West. Discussions have also started on how this can be extended to other areas, such as the fire and rescue services, so that more agencies across the region are joined-up in how they support vulnerable people.
To find out more about the support available from United Utilities and register for Priority Services, visit: www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/priority-services/
