Ofwat's PR24 makes it clear that 'financial prudence, regulatory oversight and enhanced customer service must go hand in hand' and that 'innovation will be key.'

In addition, the water sector is set to be measured against the wider utility sector despite vastly different levels of investment in modern technology. Fortunately, state-of-the-art collections technology offers substantial advantages to your customers and your balance sheet. It can help you:
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Gain better insight into your debt portfolio
Maximise automation, and
Control costs
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By improving your understanding of customer circumstances, you can achieve faster payments, more sustainable arrangements and better take-up of social tariffs.

Here are the essential steps that will help you meet the challenging targets Ofwat has set out:

Make the move to real-time collections

The foundation of a modern water company
‍Real-time capability is essential for delivering the service standards that Ofwat demands. By enabling "zero-latency" updates, you ensure that every interaction is based on accurate, up-to-the-minute information. This allows you to respond promptly to changing customer circumstances and set up sustainable repayment plans that stick.

Efficiency Through Accuracy
‍Real-time data doesn't just improve compliance; it maximises your budget. By eliminating the risk of acting on outdated information, you stop sending confusing communications that generate unnecessary complaints. This efficiency frees your team to focus on where they add the most value: supporting vulnerable customers and driving social tariff take-up.

A Unified Customer Experience
‍Crucially, real-time data bridges the gap between your digital channels and your human agents. When everyone works from the same live dataset, there are no discrepancies between what a customer sees online and what they are told on the phone. It is better for the customer, safer for the business, and demonstrably compliant.

Unify your communication channels

Stop the channel chaos
"Ofwat demands that customers have a choice of communication channels. But if those channels don't talk to each other, you create complexity and risk inconsistency.

‍The solution: A unified hubYou need a single, central system that manages every interaction.

• True consistency: Whether a customer sends an email, uses a web portal, or calls an agent, the service is identical and personalised.
• No data gaps: With all information in one place, nothing gets lost. Agents see the full picture immediately.
• Fewer complaints: A unified approach stops customers from getting conflicting advice from different departments, drastically reducing avoidable complaints.

Unlock the dynamic data you need

You cannot deliver the step change Ofwat demands if your data is locked away in disjointed legacy systems. Unusable data leads to generic service and poor outcomes.

The power of flexible data
‍You need a system built on a flexible structure that turns raw data into actionable intelligence.

• Ingest: Absorb data from any source – internal or external – at speed.
• Adapt: Easily handle changes to data formats without breaking the system.
• Create: Generate new insights based on real-time customer behaviour and agent actions.

The result?
‍Your strategies become sharper, and your repayment arrangements become truly personalised. This allows you to constantly evolve your approach, ensuring you always get the best results for both the business and the customer.

Simplify compliance management

Make Audits Painless
‍Regulatory scrutiny is stressful enough; proving your compliance shouldn't add to the pain.
Modern software solves this with Event Sourcing. This technology creates an unbreakable, unchangeable chain of evidence for every single action.

• The compliance benefit: You establish a single source of truth. You can prove exactly who did what, when, and why for any account history.
• The business benefit: This data isn't just for regulators. It allows you to analyse past events, spot trends, and refine your strategies to ensure you are delivering the best outcomes.
• ‍The bottom line: With an event-sourced system, when the regulator asks a question, you will always have the answer.

Build a culture of testing and change 

Empower Your Team to Lead
‍Water companies are under intense pressure to raise their standards. As the front line of customer engagement, your collections team has the potential to lead this transformation, but only if they have the right tools.

Legacy systems stifle innovation. When change takes months, innovators get demoralised, and a "can't do" culture sets in. That might have been acceptable in a simpler time, but in today's dynamic regulatory environment, it is a liability.

Unleash Your Experts
‍A modern system turns your team from administrators into innovators.

Your staff know your customers best. Give them the power to configure strategies, test new approaches, and adapt communications instantly – without waiting for IT support. By making change safe and simple, you transform collections into a centre of inspiration for the wider business.

The future is now

There is no doubt that PR24 increases the pressure on water collections teams. With a mandate from Ofwat to double the support for vulnerable customers, current operating models will be tested to their limits.

The new benchmark for success is the responsive, personalised service currently seen in the energy sector, driven entirely by cloud technology and real-time data.

The water sector has a choice: stick with the status quo and fall behind, or harness these technologies to deliver a powerful uplift in performance. To meet the standards Ofwat expects, you need to adopt the tools that make those standards possible.