The money-saving expert said he had no idea what the phrase meant – and said seemingly nobody else does either
Martin Lewis has highlighted a phrase water company customers in the UK are being bamboozled by when it comes to accessing help with bills that he said nobody understands. The money-saving expert raised the matter during a parliamentary select committee hearing with MPs – and stated clearly that no one in the room had a clue what the phrase meant.
He was talking about a water company’s way of communicating with customers to explain they could be entitled to a social tariff – meaning they could pay less. And he said the way it was put was so confusing that nobody in the room – including him – knew what it was supposed to mean.
He explained at a hearing of the Commons Public Accounts Committee this week what the awkward two-word phrase is, asking: “Do you know what your equivalised income is? Because I don’t know what my equivalised income is.
“But that that’s what you’re asked if you have an equivalised income. I suspect none of us in the room know what our equivalised income is. “What does it mean?” asked an MP on the committee.
Mr Lewis replied, at the meeting on Monday, June 29: “I still don’t know. That’s the phrase… that was one of the water companies…. for whether you’re entitled to a social tariff or not. If your equivalised income is below X amount.
“The point I’m making is, well, if none of in this room know what that means and I don’t know what that means, then I think it’s probably not a good way to communicate it to vulnerable people.”
According to a 2021 document from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), equivalised income “refers to household income that has been recalculated to take into account differences in household size and composition. For example, households with many members are likely to need a higher income to achieve the same standard of living as households with fewer members.”
The MP then asked Mr Lewis if firms were using this hard-to-understand term deliberately so households would not understand it – and therefore not apply for help that could lower their bills. She said: “Is that because they don’t want to to establish what it means because they don’t want to to offer up the potential help?”
Mr Lewis replied: “I I tend to think it’s because they’re crap at communicating.” The MP responded: “I tend to agree.” Mr Lewis added: “I tend to think this isn’t conspiracy – it’s just crap.”
He then offered a suggestion for how the industry could be changed to make things easier for the consumer. He said: “But I think that what the regulator could do is crack down on crapness, if you like – if I’m allowed to keep saying the word – and I don’t see why… I mean we I’ve had this in so many different sectors.
“We’ve had it recently with councils, that they weren’t explaining when you’re entitled to the carers allowance correctly. And different websites were doing it and it was a third of councils all had it wrong on their websites.
“Now there aren’t as many water companies. So you could start by a communications audit of how these water companies are communicating the social tariffs.
“Far better if they all had the same social tariff. We could have centralised really good communication.
“Then I could go on the telly and lots of other people could and tell the whole country exactly how it works without having to simply say ‘check’. And then you check and it’s equivalised income.”
Getting a social tariff
According to Citizens Advice, you could get assistance with water bills if you have no income or a low income, or if you are on benefits. You might be able to:
- apply to your water company for a cheaper rate – these are sometimes called ‘social tariffs’
- get your water supplier to limit the amount you’ll have to pay for water each year
- pay less for the water you use
You can watch Mr Lewis at the committee in full here.
