You can be water sure that we'll give you a helping hand.

We understand it's a challenging time for many people right now, so it's important to us that you know we're here to help.

If you're struggling to pay your water bill, we have a range of tariffs or options that will help with the costs and make your payments more manageable.

We also have a webpage dedicated to trusted organisations [link to trusted organisations] that offers advice on various subjects such as ill health, disabilities, well-being and financial worries.

What tariffs do we offer?

Social Tariff:

The Social Tariff caps your clean water bill and includes discounts for your water out charges, which are pre-agreed with your wastewater services provider. To qualify, your household income will need to be less than £18,005 (excluding any disability and housing payments you may receive).

WaterSure:

Our WaterSure Bill cap means you will not be charged more than our average bill. You could be eligible for WaterSure if you are a metered customer in receipt of certain qualifying benefits and have three or more children under the age of 19 or someone in your home with a medical condition, which means you use a lot of water.

As well as our support tariffs, we also have schemes to help you get back on your feet if you need to catch up on your payments.

Helping Hand:

Our Helping Hand scheme is funded by donations from us and offers financial help to clear the outstanding balance on water and sewerage bills.

We give grants through the scheme to our customers who demonstrate they are taking steps to achieve financial stability but need help clearing debt that has built up on their water bill.

Water Direct:

This third-party scheme is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). If you claim certain benefits such as Income Support, Pension Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's or Employment Support Allowance, it may be possible for the DWP to pay us directly from your benefits if you receive one of the above.

The scheme is free; if successful, you won't have to worry about further debt recovery action. You'll pay your current year's charges plus a fixed amount to help clear your arrears.

If you're not eligible for any of these schemes, help is still available. You can set up a monthly payment plan to clear any outstanding balances and build credit for your following six monthly bills.

A payment plan like this will leave your account well-positioned for your next bill.

Leak allowance

If you've seen a sudden jump in your bill, you may have a leak. The repair cost can be frustrating without worrying about the expense of the lost water.

This is where we may be able to help. Once the leak is fixed and a meter reading is taken, we can calculate how much water was lost in the leak and take on that cost for you.

If the leak were on your property, we'd need you to contact us for more information. If the leak happened on our pipework and affected your water bill, you do not need to do anything, as we will automatically apply the allowance to your water account.

You don't have to struggle alone if you are concerned about your bills and payments. Please get in touch. Our agents will be compassionate and are trained in handling calls with confidentiality. For more information visit: https://www.southeastwater.co.uk/help/priority-services/help-paying-your-bill/