The first of September marked the beginning of Alzheimer’s Awareness month and Northumbrian Water is sharing its support available to those with friends and family members living with the condition.
The water company is encouraging customers to take advantage of its free Priority Services Register, and particularly the password protection scheme, to help give peace of mind and protect loved ones.
This scheme means that any customer can choose a secure password and if they were to get a visit from the water company they can confirm who they are with this, as only genuine employees from Northumbrian Water would know the password.
For those living on their own or those who might need a helping hand, the company’s free password protection service is just one easy step to help them avoid becoming the victim of scams or fraudsters.
Northumbrian Water’s Priority Services register is completely free and has lots of other great benefits to support customers or family members living with Alzheimer’s including:
- Bills in large print, braille, audio CD and more.
- Meter reading carried out for you, they will allow more time to answer the door or telephone, and will make sure they don't park outside your home, blocking access.
- Let someone you trust manage your account. If you want some help managing your account, you can authorise your family, friend or carer to speak to us on your behalf.
Mark Wilkinson, Head of Income for Northumbrian Water said: “We know how much Alzheimer’s and dementia can affect families and we want to help make things easier for those living with dementia and their loved ones.
“The first step is to make sure we’re aware of a dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnosis, as we have a fantastic team ready to help our customers and get them all of the support they need.”
Genuine Northumbrian Water employees will always be wearing visible identification in the form of a lanyard with their name, role and photograph on. They will be more than happy to wait until you’ve done your safety checks and you can call 0345 717 1100 which can be found on the back of the identity card to confirm it’s a genuine Northumbrian Water employee.
If you would benefit from this added protection or know of a friend, family member or neighbour that could do with password protection, you can sign them up in just two minutes with just their name, address and contact details via www.nwl.co.uk/priority