Southern Water - Why don't they change Direct Debit?

MadEddieffs

After a call with these lovely people today I wanted to raise a concern and point of improvement. As I pay my water bill in Direct Debit monthly instalments I receive a bill annually. It appears that Southern Water read my meter every 6 months. In July 2022 I paid my bill and so started the new billing period. At this point Southern water reduced my direct debit amount by £2 per month - I assume based on my usage for the previous year. In January 2023 they took a reading but made no mention or changes. I submitted a manual reading yesterday which triggered an annual bill which was £90 in debt. My Direct Debit payments were obviously reduced too much at the beginning of the year and in fact should have been increased. I appreciate that they cannot be as pro-active as Energy companies which seem to want to change the Direct Debit monthly to track usage but leaving a bill to grow whilst being aware of the payment mismatch seems negligent and harmful. They took a reading in January so would have known that a debt was being accrued on the account and the level of Direct Debit they'd set was not enough. They just sat on it until the next bill which would have been in July 2023 and would be an even higher debt amount.

Please could someone take up the cause and make water companies be more helpful and pro-active with this. Leaving debt's to grow over the year and hitting people with final bills is not responsible. A simple increase of a few pounds per month would have seen this debt reduced or even nullified. Why can't they be pro-active and helpful to their customers?