United Utilities has changed the criteria on one of its support schemes to help customers who have been affected financially by Covid-19.

The company, which provides water to residents in the north west of England, has put in place a scheme titled ‘Back on Track’, which reduces water bills for customers on low incomes.

Those eligible for the scheme has included those who receive benefits or tax credits. It has now been extended to include customers whose income has been impacted by coronavirus.

Jane Haymes, affordability manager at United Utilities, explained: “Many customers are finding it difficult to pay their water bill due to a change in their financial circumstances during the coronavirus crisis.

“In response, we’ve updated the criteria of our existing Back on Track scheme so that these customers can now apply to have their water bill reduced to the end of March 2021.”

“We would urge any customer who is struggling to pay to contact us to see how we can help, as there's a wide range of support available.”

The ‘Back on Track’ scheme calculates the amount the customer pays based on their existing income and expenditure.

Customers can complete an affordability assessment as part of the application process, and also need to provide evidence that they have either been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), are benefiting from the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) or have been made redundant.