Independent Water Networks Reviews 

New property 12 months ago. They contacted me in March to say my usage required a D/D of £19 a month, agreed. Now, November, they tell me the D/D is increased to £44 a month. Questioned why and was told that in April OFWAT said they could increase charges from £1.77 per 1000 litres to £2.54 and standing charge from 10p a day to 14p a day because pipework needed replacing. It’s a new property!!!
it is around. 50% increase, and I have used (they claim) more water than they thought I would use when settling up to D/D in March. I had no advice of increased charges although the customer service guy said they sent me an email, then said it was a mail…..never seen them.
It smells to me, I want to go back to STrent, is that possible?

I had no choice but to switch to this company when I moved into a new-build property. If I’d had any say in it, I would have stayed with South East Water, who always provided excellent customer care. Unfortunately, many other people on Trustpilot seem to be in the same situation — stuck with this supplier and dealing with the same problems.

Since joining, it has been nothing but stress. My bills are wrong month after month, full of estimates and random extra charges. Even when I submit my own meter readings, the system somehow makes things worse. I was even told I shouldn’t have used the “generate bill” button, despite there being no warning on the website that this would cause issues.

I’m on the WaterSure scheme due to medical needs, which should cap my bills at the local average, yet every bill I receive is higher. I’ve contacted them repeatedly by phone and WhatsApp, and I never receive a clear answer or any real help. Just vague messages and promises that go nowhere.

Judging from the other reviews, this is not an isolated issue. The billing system is chaotic, customer service is appalling, and they do not seem equipped to support vulnerable customers or anyone simply trying to understand their charges.

If you have a choice of water supplier, I strongly advise you to avoid this one. I wish I could.

Steve Caress explained fully reason for being on my property in my water meter. I felt he should have rung
doorbell first to explain but he was very polite and friendly with his explanation hence ghe 5 stars.

If only every company had a Steve Caress. He really went above and beyond.
My bill is so expensive compared to my neighbors, I happen to see Steve and asked a few questions and he went out of his way to do a full check. We now believe there is an issue. Hopefully now the service from Steve is followed through with the other departments.
Thank you Steve you are really made a difference.

Warning to others: Avoid Independent Water Networks at all costs. Their lack of transparency, inability to set up accounts properly, and fictitious billing practices suggest a company in serious trouble in my opinion.

I am disturbed by the conduct of Independent Water Networks. On 28th October, I received a letter from their Finance Manager, Andrew Walters, claiming I had an outstanding payment and that they had previously sent me an invoice—which is completely false.

When I moved into these premises in early September, I applied for an account with Independent Water Networks (no option but to use them) and received an email confirming they were setting up my account and would respond with the details. Two months later, I have received no account details, no proper communication—only an invoice for an amount that is outrageously inflated for the water I could have used.

They never took an initial meter reading, so this charge appears baseless and borders on fraudulent. This is not just poor service; it raises serious questions about their integrity and financial practices.

To make matters worse, they provide no email address for contact—only a phone number. On 28th October, I called at 9:30 AM and was left on hold for over 30 minutes with no queue information. I eventually gave up. It seems impossible to reach them.

I demand that they provide a valid email address immediately so I can resolve this professionally and be billed honestly.

Spoke to a rep on WhatsApp and helped me out after going through security questions.

I was going to write a longer review but seeing how much bad stuff they have already is it worth it? Anyway, they decided to increased direct debit 90% and I have for 2 days tried to understand if this is an estimate of usage or actual reading [ must be estimate] . Over an hour on the phone, just rings out. Tried live chat and 'not operating' No email alternative. Tried What's up route - no reply. Went to try complaint route and says you contact them first ....by phone. You cant run a business for customers like this but of course with a captive market [ to an extent] why should they go that extra mile...or even provide a basic customer experience.? Shocking

Helpful knowledgeable staff, made the process very quick and easy.

I spoke to Eleanor
on the phone to set up a new account and she was so helpful and friendly! Didn’t wait long on hold either.

I normally don’t write reviews but today about 12.30 I called and Sean was outstanding nice friendly and very helpful in setting up my account he also advised me on couple of good things in setting up my account. I do hope that this gets back to Sean

I spoke to Dan today who was very professional, helpful and friendly!
Thanks every company should have a Dan!

Setting up a new account.
I don’t remember the ladies name but she was very helpful and made the whole experience a very easy one.

I have been with with this company for 6 years, recently I faced financial hardship and was full of anxiety as I had never been behind on my bills until a unexpected hospital admission. I spoke to Toby who was absolutely amazing, Toby helped me to take the water reading, update me on a priority register (which I didn't realise 8 wasn't on) Toby was extremely patient with me which helped my anxiety as i have a neurological condition im rubbish at navigating online and forms. Toby went above and beyond to help me and support me. Absolutely brilliant customer service.

AVOID! Water rates are sky high! Monthly bill has gone up by 33% and they say it’s in line with all water rates yet a friend in a similar property (size, age, location, etc) who is also single with 2 children pays 25% of what I pay! After 2 and a half hours on their WhatsApp chat I was continuously told I was on the best tariff, when I asked for the criteria for any of their plans to help they are unrealistic. Absolutely disgusting company for what they charge! I’m looking to move in the next year and I will add to my list not to move into a property supplied by IWNL.

Thank you Dan - A. Customer service advisor who went above and beyond I give you 10/10

We had no choice in provider. They came with our new build house! :) Early days, so a bit hard to write a review... so far so good!

Independent Water Networks have proven to be untrustworthy and inefficient, with ongoing discrepancies, poor communication, and a complete lack of professionalism. After multiple phone calls and emails requesting my monthly bills, they refused to provide them. Later, they sent a bill exceeding £1,000, claiming it was due to a meter mix-up with my neighbour and assured me it would be resolved immediately. However, nothing was done, and I ended up paying the full amount. When I asked for a detailed breakdown of my usage which I’m entitled to, they refused again. This ongoing poor service has significantly impacted my mental health. This whole experience has been extremely stressful and disappointing.

After almost a year of wrangling with the water network over charging me 2 yrs of bills when i wasnt even living in England ( previous tenant cant have had an account) i today watsapped with DAVE. He did more in the half hour than anyone has done to try and sort this so far.
Fingers crossed it works out as it should and i arent left still paying the previous tenants debt.
Bigthanks to DAVE 28 JULY 25.

They didn’t put the infrastructure in for a new development I purchased a house on correctly. So I had two years of poor water pressure.

I didn’t report in the first year, as it didn’t realise this was causing the loss of hot water I was experiencing upstairs. I instead was attempting to have my boiler investigated and repaired.

It cane out at the end of year two that it was impacting lots of people and being reported. We had to go to our MP to get action. Then it was identified the infrastructure hadn’t been set up correctly so we had really poor water pressure.

I’m a priority customer and they rang me to speak about the repeated low water pressure issues being reported. I arranged a 6pm callback after work, but they didn’t ring back.

Alongside this we had a water outage due to an unrelated issue, I wasn’t notified as a priority customer.

They gave me £25 compensation for the two years of low water pressure, loss of hot water upstairs and having my boiler investigated investigated for faults. That’s based on industry requirement for compensation per year for poor water pressure. They know the issue has been ongoing for 2 years, but as I only realised the hot water loss was water pressure this year when lots of people on the development started discussing similar issues, they’ve said they’re not required to pay for year 1 compensation. They don’t check the infrastructure or do any checks to ensure water pressure is set up correctly.

I got £10 for them not calling me back. Nothing for them not notifying me of a water outage.

I asked for £70 and was given £35. For the issues, I think that’s unreasonable.

I will be complaining to the external regulator.

Update:
Their comment is pointless as I’ve already been in contact with them and they’ve told me that’s their final response

Had a company come out asked me to call IWNL. I called them, spoke to Heath. Who resolved our issue, put us back onto water-sure and gave a proper professional service. Can't ask to be dealt with by a better chap. Well done Heath, IWNL give this man a raise.