Providing services to around 250,000 people – including many here in Powys, Hafren Dyfrdwy is a vital part of the local landscape. But there’s more to the company than pipes, taps and sewers. The human touch is all-important, too.
They have a dedicated Care and Assistance team based in Wrexham, supporting their customers in any way they can, whatever they need.
Another perfect example of the company’s approach can be seen in Katie Wood, their Community Partnership Specialist. We spoke to her recently about the support she and her colleagues provide to water users across our area.
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| Clewedog Powys |
What’s the role of a Community Partnership Specialist?
It’s important for everyone to have access to water. Clearly that goes without saying! But many people – here in Powys and more broadly across the UK – could use some extra help.
My job is to let people know how we can support them, whether that’s through our financial assistance schemes or additional services for customers with specific needs.
You may have seen me at Newtown and Welshpool Markets, chatting to customers about what we can do for them. It’s definitely a perk of the job to get out and about!
What are you focussing on at the moment?
Every day we see another story about the cost of living being more of a challenge. Whether that’s food costs, energy or heating, people are feeling the squeeze and we know that’s a concern for many households. We want water bills to be one less thing for people to worry about.
At the same time, people are interested in using water wisely. There’s a link between saving water and saving money, of course. But what people are beginning to realise is that there are other benefits from smart water usage. For instance, if less water is wasted that means we’re using less energy as a company – in the long run, everyone wins.
So, one of the things we’re doing at the moment is giving advice and solutions to customers to help them use our water more efficiently.
Can water meters help?
Absolutely, yes they can. Remember, with a water meter you will only ever pay for the water you use at your property. It can also help to save water - many people make a conscious effort to use less water once they have a meter fitted and this means a benefit for both your pocket and the environment.
Using less water means less water needs to be heated. This can help you to save on your energy bills and reduce your (and our) carbon footprint.
And what about paying the water bills themselves?
The days of a big quarterly or six-monthly water bill are long gone. These days we offer a full range of ways to pay. Monthly direct debits take away the hassle and spread the cost over the year.
Alternatively, customers can pay online or over the phone with a debit card. And you can still pay in person at a bank or your local Post Office – or using your Watercard at one of 28,000 PayPoint stores across the UK.
What help can you offer to customers on low incomes?
Our Here2Help Scheme can offer a reduction of water bills to any Hafren Dyfrdwy customer with a household income below £16,385. Depending on your situation, you can save between 30% and 90% off the annual bill.
You don’t need to be behind on your bills or on benefits to apply. We’ll look at your case sympathetically and do what we can to help.
What about people who genuinely need to use more water?
Nobody at Hafren Dyfrdwy wants to see customers being scared to use water. Our WaterSure Scheme offers financial support to customers who receive certain state benefits and who need to use more water – perhaps due to having kids at home or a medical condition.
WaterSure means that whatever your water usage, you’ll pay no more than the average annual charge – and could pay less if your meter reading is lower.
How can people apply for help under these schemes?
For Here2Help – for people on low incomes – go to hdcymru.co.uk/caringforyou or call us on 0333 207 5650.
For WaterSure – if you need to use more water due to your particular family or health circumstances – go to hdcymru.co.uk/caringforyou.
So that’s what you can do for bills. What if someone needs some other type of help?
The first thing I would say is talk to us. Our Priority Services Register is available to help if you or anyone in your household has additional needs - such as a medical condition, disability, restricted mobility, mental health issues or low hearing or vision.
Once you’re on our Priority Services Register it means we can tailor our services for your specific needs. That could mean we schedule our work around medical treatments, give you more notice if we have to interrupt your water supply, supply you bills in Braille or even just give you more time to answer the door if we know you need more time to get around.
I’m only scratching the surface when it comes to the range of services we can provide to make things easier. One of the more popular requests I’m seeing at the moment is appointing a trusted person – normally a neighbour or a family member – to contact us if you’re unable to deal with your own account for any reason. It really makes a big difference.
You can find out more about our Priority Services Register at hdcymru.co.uk/caringforyou
It sounds as if you’re going to be busy with all these additional services in the months and years to come
It’s what we’re here for. Water is such a vital part of
everyone’s lives, so making it easy for people to use our services is just the
right thing to do. And I get a lot of satisfaction from helping our customers –
it makes those trips to the market worthwhile!
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| Katie Wood - Community Partnership Specialist |
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