RWG Good Practice Alignment

We do not typically wait 20 minutes to see if a customer has paid once disconnection is actioned.

We endeavour to reconnect customers ASAP once the retailer notifies us of a reconnection.

We don’t flush supplies if the customer has been disconnected for 3 months, but we do advise them to  run taps for a few minutes.

We do not permanently disconnect if a supply has been off for 3 months, we do fit no flow devices.

We plan to fit no flow devices at first disconnection requests going forward for any premises we can fit the device to, if we cannot fit the device, we will look at alternatives.

We are  trialling a new Warrant of Entry process which will enhance the end to end disconnection offering to Retailers.

Our approach exceeds the good practice guide in the following areas:
 
How long does the retailer have to apply for an allowance:

• Good practice guide: 6 months from the date of repair
• UU approach: 12 months from the date of repair

How long is the allowance granted for:

• Good practice guide: 12 months (exemptions apply)
• UU approach: Full period (up to 6 years)

How many allowances can be requested:

• Good practice guide: 1 in 24 months
• UU approach: 1 internal and 1 external leak per customer, per property every 24 months but further volumetric sewerage allowances will be considered providing it can be demonstrated to UU’s satisfaction that the water lost through the leak did not enter our network.

UU also give allowances for sewerage and water, whereas some Wholesalers only give allowances for Water.

For level 3 we are aligned with GISX/ GISY; meter location free descriptor & meter location code.

We are not aligned with what3words in the free descriptor fields.

For clarity, we are acting as the Meter Reading Service Provider – not the Wholesaler (other Water companies provide Meter Reading services as the Wholesaler)

Section 4.0 Health and Safety

• We do not routinely read meters in confined spaces
• We do not use traffic lights, but signs and barriers are used for 15-minute short stays
• Contracted working hours are 08:00–18:00
• Temporary obstructions on customer property are not removed
• Meter reading risk assessments are regularly reviewed with our H&S team
• Two-person meter reads are identified and scheduled accordingly
• Mandatory training and refresher programmes are monitored to maintain  certification
• All H&S issues are fed back to retailers following visits
• Bi-monthly H&S briefings are cascaded to all staff

Section 5.0 Reads

• We don’t provide meter readers with previous read history
• We currently provide skip codes, but trouble codes are not mandatory
• We do offer the enhanced service of quarterly and monthly read frequencies
• We do  offer appointments
• We do offer transfer and ad hoc reads
• Photographs are requested from meter readers for particular scenarios

We are broadly aligned to the market in terms of visit codes, although some of our codes differ from the good practice guide.