Cllr Richard Quigley (Lab), Isle of Wight councillor for Cowes North, has been in contact with Southern Water to see if help is available for people struggling with bills.
The news comes amidst the fast-increasing rise in the cost of living, with food prices, petrol and gas all escalating and hitting households hard.
Cllr Quigley told News OnTheWight,
“The cost of living crisis is affecting pretty much everyone and is set to get worse from April.
“As well as putting pressure on Southern Water to clean up their act on sewage discharges, I have been in touch with Katy Taylor, the Chief Customer officer at Southern Water to see what help is available for people struggling to pay all their bills”
Taylor: We would very much like to do more to help
Katy Taylor explained,
“We are starting to see more people struggling to make ends meet and we would very much like to do more to help.
“We can offer specific help with water bills, typically at a reduction of £1.10 a day.
“Whilst we realise this won’t solve the issues some people are facing, we hope it can take some of the pressure off.”
Quigley: Don’t be worried or put off from applying
Cllr Quigley added,
“I urge people to apply for help with their bills, it’s offered because it is needed and no one should be worried or put off from applying.”
You could decrease your water services bill if:
- Your household income is less than £21,000 – discount of 20-90 per cent off your bills
- If a member of your household is on pension credit – 20 per cent discount for the household
- Other help is available depending on circumstances – capped tariff or debt matching schemes are available
- If you’ve been a wastewater customer of another supplier and have been accepted onto their social tariff, we will automatically give you a 25 per cent discount
Contact [email protected] or call 0800 027 0363 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) to discuss how Southern Water can help you.
Image: Tosab Photography under CC BY 2.0
