Surrey based water retailer, ConservAqua has been found by Ofwat to be in breach of the Retail Exit Code (REC).
The REC is a key customer protection in the water retail market. The current REC specifies maximum prices for certain customers based on their level of annual water consumption, defined as Group One customers (consuming up to 0.5Ml per year) and Group Two customers (consuming more than 0.5Ml per year but less than 50Ml).
Ofwat’s 2024-25 monitoring of Retailers’ compliance with the REC identified that ConservAqua Limited had not fully complied with the REC price protections in charging years 2023-24 and 2024-25. As a consequence of this, a subset of their Group One and Group Two customers paid more than the maximum charge afforded to customers by the REC in these years, resulting in a breach of the price protections determined in the REC.
Following Ofwat’s enquiries, ConservAqua confirmed that they had not fully complied with setting their own charges in line with REC price protections for a subset of their Group One and Group Two customers, due to:
• a billing system error which resulted in an incorrect uplift to the volumetric charges in one specific Wholesaler region, and
• the duplication of other Retailers’ published schemes of charges rather than the ensuring their own charges met requirements of the REC.
As a consequence, a number of ConservAqua’s customers were charged more than the maximum afforded to them by the REC in charging years 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Ofwat has undertaken analysis and engaged with the company to understand the nature and impact of their non-compliance, but the regulator confirmed it has taken into account that ConservAqua appears not to have been deliberately non compliant with the REC.
ConservAqua has proactively refunded overcharged amounts to all affected customers and made a further £20 payment to each affected customer as a gesture of goodwill for their error.