UK water companies are being encouraged to work even more closely with death administration firm Settld. This means they can comply quickly with new guidance from the regulator OFWAT. OFWAT wants them to place a higher priority on bereaved and vulnerable customers. 

OFWAT Guidelines

OFWAT recently published new guidelines for water companies. These are designed to help provide better support for  household customers across England and Wales. 

The regulator’s guidance states: “Companies should establish and implement clear and effective policies, procedures and systems and a helpful culture to identify customers in vulnerable circumstances, such as … bereavement, and take proactive action to offer them support.”

OFWAT also points out that water and sewerage companies should: “Make it easy for relatives to close or amend the accounts of a loved one who dies.” 

Settld can help

Vicky Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Settld, said: “Using Settld, everyone benefits: bereaved families face significantly less time and stress when it comes to notifying all companies of a death. This gives them time to focus on what really matters. On the other side, customer service agents for service providers face an easier time in attending to the needs of their bereaved and vulnerable customers.

“Our door is open to all water and sewerage companies, and other utilities. Settld helps water companies provide the support and assistance that OFWAT demands.”

Launched in February 2021, Settld enables members of the public to notify all service providers across the UK of a death. This covers banks and insurers to energy firms, mobile providers, subscription services, social media platforms and others.

In addition to notifying service providers, Settld’s online service, which is free to the public. The service helps users close, transfer or amend accounts and obtain date of death balances for probate. The vast majority of the communication with service providers is handled by Settld. It’s tracked in an online dashboard, which can be accessed at any time.

What’s the Bereavement Standard?

Wilson, who co-founded the Bereavement Standard campaign is calling for better treatment of bereaved customers. She adds: “Many service providers say that they prioritise bereaved and vulnerable customers. In reality, many of them still do the minimum necessary to offer support. Using Settld’s one stop shop will assist both bereaved customers and service providers by providing the maximum five-star support required.” 

Settld’s award-winning service streamlines and digitises bereavement processes for service providers. We offer a solution specifically designed for bereaved and vulnerable customers. This can achieve up to 50% reduction in cost to serve, along with significantly reduced call handling volumes.

Settld – at www.settld.care – consistently receives 5-star reviews from its customers, who appreciate the benefits of the one-stop shop,  automated service.