Welsh Water customers can get up to £120 off water bills under new scheme - who is eligible and how to apply

Customers of Welsh Water can now get a reduction on their water bills of up to £120 under a new cost of living scheme.

Until now Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) has mostly given financial help to households on means-tested benefits but now the company’s new Support Fund offers short-term support to working households whose “bills exceed their income”.

Under this scheme, households that qualify will receive a three-month “charge-free” period.

This means households could get a discount of around £100 to £120 on their average water bill.

To be eligible for the support, households must have a combined total income of £50,000 per year or less – and household bills must exceed their incomes.

Anyone who is already on a Welsh Water social tariff or debt scheme will not qualify.

Customers should apply to one of three partner organisations from Citizens Advice, StepChange Debt Charity or Warm Wales who will then carry out an income vs expenditure assessment to understand if they are eligible.

If households are found to be eligible, the partner organisations will apply to Welsh Water on their behalf.

The launch of the support for more households follows a successful pilot in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Denbighshire over the last six months where customers saved almost 25% off their annual water bills.

The company, which has three million customers mostly in Wales but also in parts of England,  is investing £13m for the scheme to launch.

The firm said in a statement: "With a lot of the working households we serve finding that bills are exceeding their income, our Cymuned fund could provide some much needed support.

“As ever, our advice to customers is to contact us the moment the bill becomes a worry so that we can look how we can provide support to alleviate this concern.”

The support comes after Welsh Water announced in February that their customers’ bills will increase by £14 from Apri, making the average bill for a household will be £499 a year - the second highest in Wales and England.

Welsh Water said that the rise is due to the significant increase in the rate of inflation which is running at a 40 year high.

In July, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) downgraded Welsh Water for the second year running after a rise in pollution incidents. The firm was reduced from a three star rating to two.

Welsh Water was found to have caused 89 sewage pollution incidents in 2022, five of which were classed as "having a high or significant impact".

The firm said its "performance is not where we want it to be".