General News
31 January, 2025
CHW offers cost of living support for customers
The new year can be a time when financial stress is heightened, with post-holiday period expenses adding addi-tional burden to the cost-of-living.
Central Highlands Water (CHW) has options available to help customers manage their water bills and has doubled the amount of financial assistance available to customers to $2.5 million.
General manager of customer and business services, Philippa O’Sullivan said people across the Central Highlands region are facing difficulties covering their bills, some for the first time.
“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,” she said.
“Our customer assistance team provide our customers with confi-dential, 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 exten-sions to ease short-term pressure, and longer-term payment arrange-ments to fit all budgets.
“In 2024 we were able to support over 1500 customers through our financial assistance programs. For those who are becoming concerned about their ability to stay up to date with their payments, we are here to help, and I encourage our customers to contact us either by phone, email, webchat or visiting us at our locations so we can provide a tailored support plan.
“Our transition to quarterly billing is another way we hope will help support household budgets, spreading customers’ water bills across four payments per year, rather than three.”
CHW financial assistance programs provide tailored options to customers who are having difficulty paying their water bill, including:
• Flexible payment plans
• Payment extensions
• Guidance on how to access government assistance programs such as the Utility Relief Grant Scheme
• Help setting up Centrepay
• Assistance with bills that are higher than normal due to an undetected leak
• Assistance accessing confide-ntial professional financial cou-nselling across our region
• Confidential support for customers experiencing family violence
Eligible customers could receive up to $650 from the Utility Relief Grant Scheme, as well as additional financial assistance programs tailored to their needs.
Customers can contact the Customer Assistance team directly on 4333-9506, by email customer.assitance@chw.net.au, live chat, or by dropping into the Wendouree or Maryborough offices for a private and confidential dis-cussion.
For more information, visit www.chw.net.au/here-to-help