Embracing a New Notification Process and Promoting Positive Customer Service

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

On March 11, 2016, the General Assembly of Virginia passed a law updating State Code Section 15.2-2119 effective July 1, 2016. According to this law, utility agencies must give written notices to customers prior to disconnection. This revised law was presented in the House of Delegates as House Bill 919 (HB-919). This program is a significant change to our disconnection process. Before this law, customers did not have to be notified prior to their services being disconnected. To adhere to the new disconnection process for notifying delinquent customers concerning their past-due account, to provide exceptional customer service regarding payment of their bill, to help customers avoid disconnection and to enhance employee understanding of the new collection process, we needed to understand the implementation of HB-919 to become successful. We needed to thoroughly comprehend how we are going to make it work for everyone involved. HB-919 required us to implement a new notification and collection schedule to ensure we are meeting the requirements of the General Assembly and being effective. We had to overhaul our current disconnection process and implement a new disconnection process with notifications prior to disconnection of customers. To implement the HB-919 disconnection process, we made changes to our notifications, collections schedules, the wording presented on bills, and timing of when to hang courtesy and disconnect notices to our customers. First, we developed a procedure that incorporated the requirements of HB-919, revised and updated our notification process, updated our Courtesy Notification and Disconnection Notice programs, enhanced our “Blue Bill” (customers first bill) to add content of the wording “notice,” and implemented a service level plan to maintain customer satisfaction. Second, we trained our employees to have a better understanding of what we were doing and the reasons why we are changing our processes. We did scripting of what to say to our customers when they called and asked why they were being disconnected when they just received a bill. We brainstormed ideas to make the new program work and implemented new scripting when discussing accounts with our customers. Utilities can’t disconnect anyone until they are 60 days past due and given four notices of the delinquency from the original bill with utilities notifying the customer in writing 10 business days prior to disconnection.