Ofwat and Consumer Council for Water Customer research on sewage in homes in England and Wales

Award outcome

Description

Ofwat and CCW are working together on this project to gain a better understanding of customers' experiences of sewer flooding in homes and/or gardens. Regulation of this focuses primarily on preventing sewer flooding from taking place. But it is also important to understand the service customers receive when it does occur. This contract is for qualitative research with household water customers who have experienced sewer flooding. The objectives of the research are: • Set out the range of experiences household customers face when they experience a sewer flooding incident - covering short, medium and longer term (depending on length of time between incident and interview). • Examine the responses of wastewater companies to sewer flooding incidents, looking at differences by type of sewer flooding incident and across companies. • Understand the responses of other companies to sewer flooding incidents (e.g. insurance companies) and the role of wastewater companies in this context. • Consider the levels of customer satisfaction in relation to company responses to sewer flooding incidents, and the reasons for this. • Identify good and bad practice. Approach: We expect the research to include: 1. Depth interviews with customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their home. • These interviews may be one-to-one depths or paired depths - depending on the circumstances and preferences of the household. • The interviews may be online or by telephone. • The interviews should include people with a mix of sewer flooding experiences (such as internal/external, single incident/multiple incident, mix of severity). 2. Online focus groups with some of the participants in the depth interviews: bringing together participants to consider good practice. Scope: The research must consider: • The human impact of sewer flooding on the household: what happened, the scale of the incident, the disruption caused, the impact on individuals in the household. • Response of, and interaction with, companies: which companies were involved in the incident; what was the role of the wastewater company, including: o How responsive was the company o What did the company do / what was the quality of the clean up o How well did the company communicate at different stages (e.g. when the incident first happened, and longer-term). • Whether the sewer flooding has been resolved, including measures that have been put in place to prevent repeat episodes, concerns that repeat incidences may take place. • The cost of sewer flooding incidents, including: who covered the costs (e.g. insurance); was any compensation received from the wastewater company; what was the financial costs for the household. • Overall, level of satisfaction with companies' responses to incidents and an understanding of what good practice looks like for such incidents. It should also consider any further relevant areas that will help Ofwat and CCW achieve our objectives. Apply using MyTenders portal.

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