British Gas partners with Thames Water to keep customers' homes running

25 May 2021

Smart Homes

Michael Pullan, Senior Communications Manager

T: 07557 619446

British Gas and Thames Water partnership to provide sustainable solutions for customers, saving them time and money
British Gas to offer its plumbing and drain services to Thames Water’s 1.85 million homeowners
Initial offer includes plumbing and drain cover for 99p per month
Fixing faults and leaks quickly and effectively can help customers save water at home

Over a million homeowners can save money through a new British Gas partnership with Thames Water.

The partnership is one of a number, which aim to help bring customers more affordable deals, as well as provide more sustainable services and solutions.

For just 99p a month for the first year, Thames Water customers can get cover to fix leaks and maintain their plumbing and drains, offering them a reliable service inside their property boundary.

The offers from British Gas will be available on the water company’s website and in customer communications such as bills and statements.

Thames Water serves 3.3 million household customers of which 56 per cent are homeowners, meaning a potential customer base of 1.85 million that British Gas will be supporting initially – with further services for non-homeowners to come. Thames Water customers will also have the option to take on other services and solutions provided by British Gas.

British Gas and Dyno Rod (owned by British Gas) engineers will carry out the work, which will be a mix of maintenance services including unblocking sinks and toilets as well as on-demand services to fix unexpected issues such as burst pipes.

"We are really excited to be partnering with Thames Water and offering our services to their customers. This is our first strategic partnership with a water company and as leaders in our industry we hope to build on our relationship with Thames Water to help our customers live more sustainably and affordably. There are many ways we may be able to help further, for example, we will be discussing how some of our smart home products can also help with water leak detection, which will help Thames goal of environmental impact. We are confident that Thames Water customers will be getting a good deal and great service from a brand they can rely on. Our British Gas and Dyno Rod engineers are well respected and trusted in homes across the country to solve any customer issue in the home."

Matthew Bateman, Managing Director, British Gas Services and Solutions

Warren Buckley, Retail Director at Thames Water, said: “We know how disruptive a blocked toilet or a leaking pipe in your home can be and by partnering with British Gas we can offer our customers trusted services to cover unexpected plumbing and drainage problems if they happen on their property.

“We’re working hard to reduce leakage across our network and these services will help customers stop leaks and save water in their own homes. Customers can also help take care of their pipes by only flushing the three Ps – pee poo and toilet paper – down the loo and by putting oil and fats in the bin rather than down the drain after cooking.”

Homeowners are responsible for the upkeep and repair of their internal pipes and fittings and are generally responsible for the water supply pipe that runs from the boundary of their property into their home.

Around a quarter of the leaks Thames Water fixes are at customers’ properties. The company is employing a range of innovative measures to help detect and fix leaks in its network, including temperature analysis, devices installed in large pipes to monitor the water flow and even a sniffer dog which can detect the small amounts of chlorine in drinking water.

NOTES

About British Gas
British Gas is Britain’s leading supplier of energy, delivering to 7 million homes in Britain and more than 400,000 businesses. We offer the highest quality services to both UK homes and businesses, provided by more than 7,500 highly-trained engineers. We also provide a range of innovative products and services including smart meters, connected home products by Hive™, and the on-demand, online tradesman service, Local Heroes.

About Thames Water
Thames Water is the UK’s biggest water and wastewater services provider. Our key workers provide essential services around the clock to 15 million customers across London, the Thames Valley and surrounding areas.

For an average of just over £1 a day for our households, we provide 2.6 billion litres of drinking water and safely remove 4.6 billion litres of wastewater every day.

We invested more than £1 billion again in 2019/20, leading to a total of £16 billion in the past 16 years, and we will continue to spend wisely on improving resilience, service and efficiency, as well as provide more support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

We also have additional responsibilities to society and the natural environment. What we do and how we do it delivers significant public value, which is why we have ambitious plans to self-generate more of our own power, reduce our carbon emissions and increase biodiversity across our sites.