Privacy Notice

The diagram shows two group companies that we may share your data with. The first is Bristol Wessex Billing Services (also known as BWBSL or Pelican Business Services) and is also part-owned by Wessex Water Services Ltd. By sharing your data with Bristol Wessex Billing Services it means we can provide a joint bill for your water and sewerage. For more information please see the ‘Who we share your data with’ section.

Bristol Wessex Billing Services own a company called Searchlight Collections Ltd, which is a debt collection agency. Your data would only be shared with Searchlight Collections in the event of non-payment.

Information you give us

We will collect your personal data whenever you fill in a form, contact us (including by social media), pay us, request a service, provide feedback, enter a competition, or complete a survey.

Information you provide us may include:

Account and card details – account number and sort code, account holders name, direct debit details
Contact details – postal address, email address, mobile or landline numbers
Personal details – name, date of birth

For certain customers we might ask for health information too. This is where a health condition could impact your usage, where you have additional requirements, or if you require extra support from us. We will use the health data to assess requirements and ensure we provide the services you need. We will only ever do this with your explicit consent, which can be withdrawn at any time.

Information we collect

We may collect data from you in the course of providing you with a service. For example by reading your water meter we will collect information about your water usage.

We record all phone calls, incoming and out-going, made by departments that deal directly with customers, including Customer Service, Meter Options, and Wholesale Services.

Whenever you visit our website we use cookies that will contain personal information, for more details please see our Cookie Policy section.

Information provided by other sources

We may receive your data from another company or organisation.

For non-household (business) customers, we receive information from your retailer such as supply or contact details.

Other utility companies (for example gas and electric companies) may share their Priority Services Register with us to ensure that customers with specific needs receive the service they require.

In 2016 we purchased landline phone numbers for our customers from GB Group plc. This was to improve our ability to proactively contact our customers. This was a one-off purchase and we now only collect phone numbers directly from customers.

Local NHS Trusts provide us with the contact details for certain customers with specific medical requirements that require constant supply of water.

We occasionally use analytics providers in order to get a better understanding of our customers’ lifestyle and water consumption habits. This assists us in understanding our customers, tailoring our services, and providing relevant information such as water efficiency advice and products. Wherever possible, this will be aggregated, pseudonymised, or anonymised data.

Legal Obligation

We will use your data to meet our legal obligations, in particular under:

Water Industry Act 1991
Water Act 2014
Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999
Water Supply (Water Quality) regulations 2016
Our Instrument of Appointment, as issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment

It is a legal obligation that we provide you with water services we have and the authority to charge you for that service. We also have legal obligations to maintain and protect the water supply network.

Public Interest

Bristol Water was founded on the principles that we serve our community and we continue to run the business that way. In particular we will:

Maintain the water supply network
Monitor water quality
Improve our customer service by carrying out and analysis surveys and feedback
Inform our customers about our services and service-related issues
Protect the environment
Assess eligibility for a social tariff based on health or financial circumstances
Assess and provide operational and service requirements based on health circumstances
Contact you (including by SMS) about the services you receive and to check our records are up to date.

Legitimate Interest

A legitimate interest is where we process information because it is to the benefit of the company or others. We will always balance that interest against your expectations of reasonable use and your privacy rights. We have a legitimate interest to:

Provide water supply services and products
Administer a customer’s account
Communicate with you about products and services we provide, including water efficiency measures
Carry out and analyse customer feedback and surveys
Carry out staff training and quality assurance
Use aggregated data to understand customer trends in lifestyle and water consumption, and to assist in business planning
Ensure our company strategic outcomes are met
Ensure we operate to expectations of a responsible water company
Handle responses to public consultations, such as our Drought Plan
Maintain our land holdings and sites
Keep our records accurate and up-to-date
Carry out credit checks
Prevent and detect crime, including fraud

Vital Interest

Customers on our Priority Services Register, or who have been identified as potentially vulnerable, may receive additional services and support from us In the event of a water supply emergency. This is in accordance with the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 1998.

Service Providers

List of Service Providers:

Bristol Wessex Billing Services Limited (t/a Pelican Business Services) -Read meters, send out bills, handle billing enquiries, process payments, and account management
Wipro Limited -Our IT services provider. They have access to all our systems and data. Please note: Wipro are based in India therefore we may transfer personal data outside of the EEA, an appropriate data sharing agreement is in place for this purpose.
Network Maintenance Contractors (including Kier Integrated Services Limited) -Perform network maintenance, including street works and responding to water supply incidents, provide priority services to ‘vulnerable’ customers.
Self -Lay Providers -Making new supply connections at development sites
Housing Associations and Landlords -Water regulations inspections
Land Agents -Managing our land and property, and obtaining land rights
Customer Services Support -Handle large scale call volumes during water supply incidents, and provide software for live chat featured on our website
Social Media Platforms -Responding to enquiries and complaints
Market Researchers -Carry out and analyse surveys and feedback results
Mgage Europe Limited -SMS text alert system during water supply and water quality incidents
Credit reference agencies -Carry out credit checks
Debt recovery companies (including Searchlight Collections Limited) -Collection of unpaid charges
Insurance providers -Managing litigation and compensation claims
Auditors -Provide assurance for business processes and decision
External Legal and Professional Advisors -Obtaining legal advice, managing disputes, and compensation claims

Other Utility Companies

All of our domestic (household) water supply customers receive sewerage services from Wessex Water Services Limited. We share water consumption information with Wessex Water so that they can calculate waste water use. Contact details are shared to maintain accurate data.

Bristol Water may share our Priority Services Register with other utility companies (for example gas and electric companies) to ensure that customers with specific needs receive the service they require.

Wessex Searches (trading name of Wessex Water Enterprises Limited) is a subsidiary of Wessex Water Limited. We provide customer information to Wessex Searches for the purpose of providing searches information to home buyers.

For non-household customers, we must share customer data with the non-household customers’ retailer. This includes water supply information, details of any contact between us and a non-household customer, and information relating to water supply incidents. What information we share and how it is shared is governed by the Wholesale-Retail Code.

Legal and regulatory authorities

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations we may provide personal data to the following authorities:

Defra
Ofwat
Drinking Water Inspectorate
Environment Agency
Public Health England
Environmental Health Authorities
Consumer Council for Water
Water Redress Scheme
Market Operator Services Ltd
Local Authorities
Police, Fire, Ambulance, and other emergency services

We may also be required to share personal information under a court order.

Customer Surveys

All customers who contact Bristol Water may be surveyed by Bristol Water or our regulator, Ofwat. This is an important regulatory function to ensure we always improve on our customer service.

Ofwat currently conduct two surveys: C-MeX (Customer Measure of Experience) and D-MeX (Developer Measure of Experience). Where Ofwat have requested customer data for the purposes of C-MeX or D-MeX it is a legal obligation for Bristol Water to provide this.

If you do not want to be surveyed by Bristol Water or Ofwat please contact our Customer Services Team to opt-out.

Marketing

It is a legal duty for us to promote water efficiency. We use a number of methods, including direct marketing on occasion. This may include promoting products and services we provide. We may engage a third party to provide this service on our behalf.

We will never sell your data to third party marketing companies.

Bristol Water supports the work of WaterAid, a charity that aims to ensure all people across the world have access to clean water and hygiene facilities. Occasionally we will include some information about WaterAid as a bill insert.

Your Rights

We recognise customer rights under data protection legislation:

Right to be Informed – customers are entitled to know how their data is processed. This notice is designed to provide an overview of all processing activity. If more specific detail is required please contact us at dataprotection@bristolwater.co.uk.
Right to Access – customers can access their data via a Subject Access Request, for more information please see our Customer Subject Access Request Policy here.
Right to Rectification – if customer data is found to be inaccurate we are under an obligation to correct it. This may be done by contacting our Customer Services team.
Right to Object – a customer has a right to object to processing under the legal basis of public interest or legitimate interest. Any objection will be appropriately considered by the Data Protection team.
Right to Restriction on Processing – We have processes in place to restrict processing where there is a legitimate objection.
Right to Erasure – customers have the right to be forgotten. Personal data shall be deleted where there is no longer a legitimate purpose to the data processing in accordance with our data retention policy.
Right to Data Portability – Where applicable, we have processes in place to allow data portability to another data controller.
Right to not be subject to automated decision making – customers have the right to have automated decision making to be reviewed by our personnel. We do not use automated decision making at the moment and will inform customers if our policy changes here.

Customer Privacy Notice

About us

Data Protection Officer

Information Commissioner’s Office

What personal data we collect about you