Independent Water Networks Reviews 

Chelsea has been incredibly knowledgeable, professional and efficient. A true example of outstanding customer service! Thanks so much, Chelsea! 💖✨

Moved to new build house last November by Newett Homes. Water supplier Last Mile Water (LMW) just emailed all us residents to say they’ve changed their name to ICOSA. But Google suggests that Icosa changed their name to Last Mile Water in December 2025, so what’s going on is unknown.
Myself & other residents have just had crazy bills.
Mine was £657.97 (for 6m period).
At my previous home I paid between £12 and £18 a month over a 5 year period. My lifestyle nor my usage has changed.
My meter says I’ve used a total of 25.3 units - it was 0 when I moved in November 2025.
LMW, ICOSA or whatever you’re calling yourself, sort yourself out!

Con artists. Unfortunately my new build development chose to use these crooks for my water supply even though south west water supply the water in this region. I am being charged £125 a month for a 2 person household which is extremely high. I have requested on 3 occasion for an engineer to come out to test and check my meter as something is wrong. As i have to work for a living i asked for the engineer visit to be booked in but no he turned up randomly when he felt like it. I have since requested another visit, ignored for months and on the third occasion of calling told there is no need for an engineer to come out. Also been told i am liable for charges if my meter is not faulty if tested and working fine. This company is shocking and unfortunately if i do not want to live in the stoneage i have to continue paying them at their highly overpriced untested pricing. Companies like this need taking to court and i am willing to go all the way to prove them wrong of ripping people off

Nearly impossible to contact online, force you to phone them or write to them, everytime you send a message via WhatsApp you get standard message.
Thanks for contacting IWNL!

Just to make you aware we are particularly busy at the moment. You may be waiting longer than we would normally like. Thanks for your patience.

We'll connect you to an advisor as soon as one becomes available.
Then 24 hours later you get this message.
Hello! Thanks for reaching out to IWNL. We apologise for the delay in responding to your message. Our team is currently unavailable, but we're happy to assist you during our regular business hours: Monday to Friday 08:30 to 19:00, Weekends and Bank Holidays 09:30 to 16:00. Please feel free to message us again during those times and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for understanding.

No good whatsever.
New build house and they did not fit smart meters.

Would change if I could but you can't change water supplier.

Its a shame this company exists and its even more of a shame you cant change providers. I have gone from a £20 a month bill for my 1 bedroom single occupsncy flat to receiving a £119 bill. I dont usd thst much water and im hardly home. They seem to be doing this alot and its so sad and depressing.

To be honest, I am not having a good experience with IWNL. I don't think their communication is very good, their support teams don't really offer anything, and they've come across a little tone deaf. They ask you to reach out to customer services, but they're not particularly helpful. I explained our circumstances but they've not really done anything to support with it. They make claims like "we've tried to contact you" but no email, text or call came in. It's a little frustrating. Even more so, as I have zero choice in who supplies my utility, and it's organised that they control a monopoly here.

Since moving into our new home, they have been nothing but a pain. Stupid direct debit amounts that they refuse to alter (so i cancelled it) so slow to respond (average 5 days) and now i have found my meter is faulty and have low water pressure (no dates given to fix, just a reply in 5 working days to say yes we have your concerns and we will be in touch) no timescales. Diabolical company and of you can forget live chat / whatsapp or even trying to ring them..waste of time.

On the 12th December 2025 I completed on a new build property sale from the developer Rowland Homes at their Royal Gardens Blackpool FY2 development in the North West which is serviced by network water provider United Utilities.

Myself and other purchasers were never told by the sales agent that the developer had done a deal with IWNL to be the billing company in the guise of an OFWAT approved New Appointment and Variation (NAV) scheme.

Even before Rowland had spades in the ground they had chosen to prioritise this corrupt financial deal over their core business of building houses and without our knowledge or consent our water utility accounts had been handed over to this random third party, third rate company.

There was never any reason to suspect that part of the development would be the the victims of this opportunistic, unscrupulous parasitic company and sold off like a commodity and the remainder would stay with the trusted professional network provider United Utilities in this two tier shambles of a deal.

The first few months experience of IWNL who claim to be our water provider which is a misrepresentation as United Utilities provide the core product and service with IWNL just providing an inferior billing service.

An example which is completely documented and evidenced of the incompetency of IWNL in the first few months of the contract is as follows.

On the 13th March IWNL issued an email stating that they're not the provider for the sewerage but just for the fresh water only and we'll be informed who will be responsible for the sewerage in due course.

On the 7th April I spoke with IWNL colleague called Harry and he said that the NAV licence covered both the fresh water supply and sewerage so I thought that Harry would have reported this communication error but he didn't.

It wasn't until the 30th June that IWNL issued a letter stating that they'd made a mistake by not charging us for sewerage and the back dated charges will now be payable, so clearly IWNL hasn't got a clue about the NAV deal they've purchased and what they're responsible for.

IWNL have chosen to only remotely access one meter reading every 13 months which is the OFWAT basic minimum standard and it's the responsibility of customers to provide meter readings if you require accuracy instead of their estimated billing.

This is most certainly a backward step but IWNL arrogantly say that they bring innovation to the sector.

Myself and other homeowners have reluctantly opted for manual billing and payments to take back some control because we no longer have the convenience and quality of service we've experienced with United Utilities

Some of the questions we need answering which will be via the local MP because OFWAT are involved in the approval process are as follows.

Why this scheme was at the very top of Rowlands priorities from the very start and why they were so motivated to pursue it at such an early stage and what benefit a different company would provide?

Why include just some of the properties which was just enough to fulfill the acceptance criteria for the NAV scheme which is Rowlands commitment to the deal.

Why would they inflict an inferior billing system on the first purchasers, presumably the quantity that would show the earliest return for IWNL

Why disadvantage the future resale of some properties that need to explain this unwanted and unnecessary complication to prospective buyers, and on the fringe area of the boundary there will be neighbouring properties billed by different companies.

What justification was submitted to OFWAT to convince them that this vastly inferior billing company should be inflicted on the consumers that OFWAT are supposed to represent.

In my opinion presumably there have been quite a few brown envelopes stashed with cash exchanging hands at our expense for IWNL to grow their business.

Jo was amazing. What customer services wow!!

Independent Water Networks is still charging me £43 a month even though I am on a low income and have been accepted for their social tariff. Every time I reach out to fix this, they just fob me off instead of actually helping. I am posting this here in the hopes that James Whiled sees how poorly customers are being treated. Please fix my account and apply the correct tariff immediately.

Zara very helpful from the finance team. After getting promised call backs that didn't get she helped resolve our issues. Credit to the company.

Still waiting for a reply to my whatsapp message from last week

Thanks for contacting IWNL!

Just to make you aware we are particularly busy at the moment. You may be waiting longer than we would normally like. Thanks for your patience.

We'll connect you to an advisor as soon as one becomes available.

I have no confidence in this company as their customer service seems extremely poor. I moved into a new build several weeks ago and set up my account. I didn't have the meter reading from the day but eventually obtained it from the builders. IWNL produced in invoice for the full consumption including the builders usage. I informed them of the correct reading and I also provided current readings to them. Their Whatsapp favoured method of contact is a joke. They ask a question I reply then they do not action the response then 48hrs lapses and then ask me to verify everything again. I must have done this 3 or 4 times now. They also ask if I am 'vulnrable' to which I have responded several times! They make a simple task so unbeleiveably difficult!

Great customer service,
Very helpful and informative service by Kristina ,
Lovely and friendly person.
Help me with the water bill .

Extremely disappointed with the way IWN has handled a serious problem with my water meter and account. They incorrectly billed for water usage that does not belong to my property, and despite providing physical evidence and documentation, they are still unable to correct mistakes on my account.
Orbit’s documents identify my water meter, but the physical meter is in a drainage area and difficult to read. The wall markings also appear incorrect: my property is Plot 73, but “73” is marked against the neighbouring meter, which creates confusion.
When I eventually climbed into the drainage area and photographed the meter. The original documentation provided by Orbit matches the meter I photographed. This provides physical evidence of which meter belongs to my property.
I submitted a legitimate meter reading of 00166, taken on 8 September 2026, together with the documentation showing my correct meter identification. Despite this, I received emails rejecting my reading because IWN had already increased the reading on my account from 00158 to 00225, dramatically increasing my bill.
The situation has become even more concerning because IWN's records do not appear to correspond with the physical meter readings I can see. The meter belonging to the neighbouring plot showed a reading of 00188, which is remarkably close to a reading of 00178 that had previously appeared on my Shortly they increased it to 00199 and then 00225, despite my own meter photograph showing 00166 on 8 September.
I have therefore asked a very simple question: where did IWN obtain these readings, and from which physical meter were they actually taken?
I was told that engineer would be sent to inspect the meter. However, yesterday I was given information that engineers weren't available and they do not know when an engineer would actually be available.
This has led to a week of confusing and frustrating communication, which is still ongoing.
Also IWN told during my telephone conversation that IWN receives meter information from Orbit home provider. Which surprised me as they constantly rely on “their professional” engineers. But it looks they don't have one. I don't think the Orbit office will provide proper engineers, to pay them just to make sure they will climb down the drainage to assist my water meter readings, when it's easy for them to put my account on excessive fraudulently estimated usage and scam people for money.
Obviously, neither Orbit nor Independent Water Networks provides qualified engineers for regular customers like me, as they make this confusing mistake in the first place. I can only assume that their “professional” meter checks are carried out by handyman labour as no qualified engineer would reasonably be expected to climb into a drainage area. I am not against ordinary labour work; I am trying to understand whether qualified engineers are actually being used by IWN?
I am particularly concerned because IWN appears to have continued using estimated or disputed readings rather than correcting the account after I provided physical photos evidence.
Communication process is extremely abusive. Customers should have straightforward email communication to keep paper track for both sides. Instead, they provide a customer portal, where correspondence can become non-traceable.
I am not asking for anything unreasonable. I want IWN to:
1.Physically correct the meter allocation markings in the drainage according to documentation I provided as it's appear to be incorrect.
2.Correct the record of the serial reference number of my water meter in my water account I have with IWN as it's still have registration of the serial number of my neighbour account.
3.Remove incorrect and/or estimated readings from my account according to physical evidence I provided.
4.Recalculate my bill using the correct meter.
5.Book an engineer appointment and allow me to be present when the meter is inspected.
6.Properly acknowledge and consider the photographic and documentary evidence which I have already supplied.
I have serious concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the billing and meter-recording system in this case. I cannot understand how a reading from a different physical meter could appear to be associated with my account, particularly when the physical meter allocation markings appear to be incorrect.
I believe IWN aware about mistake they done intentionally, using my customers vulnerability to scam my money. Otherwise they will be correct situation immediately, but they didn't, refusal of the physical evidence and delays with the "professional"engineer. I am their customer 4 years and never had my account in arrears and they treat me like rubbish. Very disappointed and I wouldn't recommend them.

IWNL are the worst utility company around and are refusing to investigate a very obvious leak at the end of my road, claiming that they (a water company) don’t have the resources to investigate a leak.

They are instead insisting that my household made up of two people uses an average of 900 litres of water every single day and wanting to charge me almost £100 every month for water which is absurd and impossible.

I think it’s ridiculous that a company who put a hosepipe ban in place, encourages customers to report leaks and use less water, instead refuses to fix and investigate leaks and instead charges customers for impossible amounts of water. They promise to call me back and never do too.

Rubbish. Useless. Waste of time and effort. Zero stars if I could. Customer service non-existent and there is little point in complaining or contacting them as they ‘have no staff available’ and ‘we’re really busy’. No reply to whatsapp yet happy to take your money. It’s an absolute shame that you cannot leave these clowns and shift your service to a decent supplier. Faceless, pointless and absolutely no customer service. *No doubt I will get a response to this post loooong before any muppet bothers to reply to my whatsapp message…. Oh, the irony!!

Awful awful customer service.
Attempted to resolve a problem via live chat, the only response is "no agents available to support right now"
So I switched to WhatsApp as an alternative, it takes them at least 24 hours to reply to a message and after FIVE DAYS all I've managed to do is pass security. Absolute joke of a company.

I have been in the process of setting up my new account, which has been a minefield for various reasons, mainly because I've moved into a new build with cowboy developers who are causing nothing but headaches.
Anyway, due to a lot of confusion today, I rang IWNL and thankfully got through to Rommi. I have to say she was exceptionally helpful. She was really patient and listened, then explained stuff to me without getting frustrated. I was really glad that she was so willing to take her time and help because I did have some extra concerns which covered a range of things. I have relocated from another area, for one, so it's a completely different water supplier. I need to be on the priority customer list because I am registered disabled. Rommi was really good because she asked if I had any questions, and I needed to check if it was the same as where I had lived previously, and she took her time explaining. Then it turned out I needed to add some details, which she asked my permission to do on my behalf once she made sure I understood.
She was really thorough and very kind with her wording, yet professional and understanding of my needs without patronizing me, which I liked. I thanked her for her time, etc., and was then surprised to discover that I can ask for her again if she is on call and can deal with her, which is amazing because these companies can be so big you don't have that opportunity.
This is my first dealing with this company, and I wasn't going to stay with them initially; my developers just assigned me to them automatically. But I have to say, with the way Rommi handled my call and everything we discussed, I am very satisfied and will stay with them and see how everything goes moving forward. At this stage, I would certainly recommend, and I hope everything else is of this standard.
Independent Water Networks should pay attention to workers like this and make sure they are rewarded in some way so they keep this quality of service and can have others trained to do the same. Thanks, Rommi and IWNL.

Awful customer service - awful service provision