Ofwat took too long to investigate complaint, then handled complaint about the delay poorly

What happened

Mr R complained to Ofwat about the time it was taking to deal with his case. When he complained to Ofwat it repeatedly failed to keep its promises and it did not answer his messages and emails. Mr R was unhappy that Ofwat did not provide a detailed response to his complaint or take any measures to improve its service. Ofwat refused to pay financial compensation to Mr R.

What we found

Ofwat reviewed its handling of Mr R's complaint when we told it we intended to investigate, and apologised to him for the time taken to deal with his case. Ofwat also reviewed its complaint process and told us that it intended to make changes to improve its complaint handling in future.

Ofwat had some resourcing issues that delayed its investigation of Mr R's case. It took some steps to address these issues but it did not tell Mr R the reasons for the delay or explain what action it had taken. Ofwat's response to Mr R's complaint was poor and it did not properly investigate his concerns and did not put things right for him. Ofwat's poor complaint handling caused Mr R a great deal of time and trouble and inconvenience.

Putting it right

Ofwat apologised to Mr R and paid him £250 compensation. It also told Mr R about the actions it will take to improve its complaint handling.