Program aims to ease water bill pressures

CENTRAL Highlands Water customers who are experiencing financial stress can access a range of measures to help pay water bills.

The organisation’s Financial Assistance Program includes options such as flexible payment plans, payment extensions, guidance on how to access government assistance programs and help setting up Centrepay.

Customers can also receive assistance with bills that are higher than normal due to an undetected leak, access to financial counselling, and extra support for people experiencing family violence.

“Cost of living has been an issue for many people for quite some time and this time of year can be especially hard with extra expenses adding up over the holiday period,” general manager of customer and business services, Philippa O’Sullivan said.

“Our customer assistance team provide our customers with confidential, caring and individualised support, helping them to develop a straight-forward approach to managing their bills.

“We understand every situation is different, and we have a range of solutions to support our customers, including one-off payment extensions to ease short-term pressure, and longer-term payment arrangements to fit all budgets.”

In 2024 more than 1500 customers were supported with the financial assistance program.

To contact customer assistance, call 4333 9506, email [email protected], Live Chat, or visit the Wendouree office.