Debt Collection

Buyer
United Utilities Water Limited
Value
£43,554,267
Closes
29 December 2026
Where
Warrington, the North West
Type
Sets up a framework (suppliers apply to join)

In plain English

United Utilities Water Limited is contracting out debt collection services for household water bills. They want specialist debt collection agencies to chase unpaid debts, visit customers, trace people who have moved, and recover money owed, following fair payment guidelines and treating vulnerable customers with care.

What the buyer wants

• Collect unpaid household water bills through phone calls, letters, doorstep visits, and tracing absent debtors • Handle vulnerable customers with specialist care and manage final demands before legal action • Provide outbound calling services on a white-label basis for United Utilities • Handle probate and deceased customer accounts • Return collected funds to United Utilities with documentation of payment activity

Lots

Likely requirements

Our reading of the notice. Always check the tender documents.

This contract is worth over £43 million and is structured in 5 specialist lots covering debt collection, call centre operations, field visits, and probate services: almost no small business will have the infrastructure, regulatory accreditation, insurance, and experience across all these areas simultaneously. You would need to be an established debt collection agency with FCA approval, field teams, call centre staff, and a track record with utility companies to be seriously competitive.

How to bid

This is a framework: the buyer picks a set of suppliers now and awards work to them over several years. If you are not on it when it is awarded, you usually cannot win work from it until it is re-tendered, so this is the window to bid.

How framework contracts work

More open tenders from United Utilities Water Limited

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