Castle Water Complaints Procedure

Castle Water is committed to providing the highest level of customer care and this includes an effective process for handling complaints. Our complaints procedure has been created to make sure all complaints are fully investigated and satisfactorily resolved as quickly as possible. This document sets out how you can make a complaint, how Castle Water will handle it, and your right to appeal if you are not satisfied with our response.

Customer Service

If you are concerned about something, please let us know. We will always try to resolve things straight away.

Our customer services are available 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday.

Call us

You can reach us on 01250 718700.

For Key Accounts and Trade Effluent call 01250 718718.

Email us

Get in touch with us via email at support@castlewater.co.uk.

Alternatively, you can use the form on our contact us page.

Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint, we will handle your complaint in line with the three stages of our complaints procedure.

Stage 1

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us in one of the following ways:

Your complaint will be reviewed by our complaints team who will look to acknowledge your complaint by 6pm the following business day. We will investigate and may call you to discuss your complaint. We will provide a proposed resolution to the complaint or a substantive update on the progress of resolving the issue, as sometimes a resolution may require us to liaise with other organisations. In responding, we will;

  • address all the points you raised in your complaint and provide a clear explanation;
  • apologise and explain what remedial action we have taken if we have fallen short;
  • consider whether we can offer compensation where remedial action is not possible or is insufficient.

We endeavour to provide a substantial response within 10 business days of receipt of your complaint.

If appropriate, we will place your account on hold while we investigate your complaint. If the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, then you may proceed to the next stage. Please note that if you do not reply to our response to your complaint within 30 days, we may treat any appeal as a new complaint.

Stage 2

Following Stage 1, if the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction you can appeal the decision. If possible, please set out your appeal in writing and send it to us using the contact details above. This helps us to ensure that we have properly understood the details of your complaint and appeal. Your appeal will be considered by Castle Water’s Executive Complaints Team who will undertake an independent internal review and will aim to reach a resolution within 10 business days.

Stage 3

If you have completed Stages 1 and 2 of this procedure and are not satisfied with our response to your appeal, or if you have not received a satisfactory response from us within 10 business days, you can take the matter to an independent body who will consider your complaint and may investigate.

Please be aware that you may be referred back to us if you have not escalated your complaint via our formal complaints procedure outlined in Stages 1 and 2.

Complaints relating to services in England

Contact the Consumer Council for Water. The Consumer Council for Water is the final stage for complaints about Castle Water and their service is independent, free and confidential.

Complaints relating to services in Scotland

Contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is the final stage for complaints about Castle Water and their service is independent, free and confidential.

The SPSO will normally not look at complaints relating to issues you have known about for more than 12 months, or that have been or are being considered in court.

Stage 4

If you are a customer in England and remain unhappy with the outcome of your complaint after it’s been through Steps 1, 2 and 3 of our complaints procedure, you can take your concerns to an independent redress scheme with the ADR Group, who can provide an independent decision, subject to the rules of the scheme and being eligible for referral to ADR.

Website: www.consumer-dispute.co.uk

The ADR scheme can be used to settle disputes relating to:

  • current customers of Castle Water
  • provision of retail water and waste water services pursuant to the applicable Scheme of Terms & Conditions (other than matters excluded below)
  • customer services
  • bills, payments, collections and debt recovery
  • meter reading
  • mis-selling

Castle Water may agree to refer other issues which are outside those included in the Scheme at its discretion. In such circumstances (including in relation to any complaints by former customers of Castle Water), additional charges to use the Scheme may apply and would have to be agreed between the customer and Castle Water prior to the acceptance of such an application by the Scheme.

The Scheme cannot be used to adjudicate disputes which fall into one or more of the following categories:

  • claims for compensation relating to negligence or damage caused by an undertaker
  • claims relating to breach of a statutory duty by an undertaker
  • disputes that are subject to existing court action, or Castle Water has commenced court proceedings, or on which a court has ruled unless the court’s decision has been set aside
  • disputes relating to complex matters of law
  • disputes relating to decisions by Ofwat, or challenges to existing legislation or regulation
  • disputes concerning the Competition Acts 1998 and 2002 as amended
  • regulatory enforcement cases
  • bulk supply determinations and resale and third party complaints
  • any matters over which Ofwat has powers to determine an outcome, including disputes relating to eligibility to transfer to a statutory licensee
  • water quality legal standards
  • enforcement cases under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Act 1995 as amended
  • disputes that are the subject of an existing or previous valid application under the scheme
  • the handling of CCWater and Ofwat complaints
  • disputes relating to the fairness of contract terms and/or commercial practices
  • disputes concerning allegations of fraudulent or criminal activity
  • any dispute or disputes that are considered by the ADR provider to be frivolous and/or vexatious

Emergency complaints

If you wish to complain about an emergency situation such as concerns about water quality, loss of water supply or sewer flooding, please contact your water network owner using the contact details available on our website at https://www.castlewater.co.uk/contact/emergency-contacts. Between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday you can obtain this information by calling 01250 718700. Alternatively, we can transfer you through to your water network owner.

View the full Castle Water Complaints Procedure