Supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances

Supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances

Amount awarded: £214,901

Led by: Severn Trent Water

Partners: Consumer Council for Water (CCW), South East Water Ltd, Thames Water Ltd and United Utilities.

The ‘Supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances project’ will use behavioural science, applying ethnographic principles, to understand who the water sector’s consumers really are. The project aims to understand consumer engagement needs and intends to re-engage consumers as trusted sources of information for the sector. The project is led by Severn Trent Water in partnership with the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), South East Water, Thames Water and United Utilities.

Using behavioural science and design thinking methodology, the project will determine the relationships between the types of communication methods used to connect with consumers and their effectiveness. This will involve conducting research and trials, focussing on a demographically diverse pilot location in Leicester, to test and ascertain how the right campaigns and support can be directed to those most in need. The insights obtained will be used to tailor customer journeys and communication channels to be more appropriate and effective, facilitating a step-change improvement for the water sector in the engagement of hard-to-reach customers and communities.

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Resources:

For more information on Supporting Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances, take a look at the following resources:

• Read the case study from July 2023
• This project was featured in the Supporting water-efficient communities Learning Report
• The foreground IPR developed by this project is as follows:

• • Engaging hard-to-reach, vulnerable customers Playbook.
• The project has shared its learnings via a Spring Showcase event. Watch the event recording  and find other learnings and materials in Spring’s Knowledge Transfer library.

If you have any questions, email the project directly at [email protected].