Guaranteed standards of service

If we have to carry out planned work which involves interrupting your water supply for more than four hours, we’ll let you know at least 48 hours before the interruption will start and will tell you when we expect the supply to be restored.

For our domestic customers if we fail to correctly notify you of the interruption or if the supply is not restored in the stated time, we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £30.

For our non-household customers if we fail to correctly notify you of the interruption or if the supply is not restored in the stated time, we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £75.

For non-household customers, if you do not receive the credit via your retailer to your account within 20 working days and this is due to our actions, you will be entitled to an additional payment of £50, which we’ll automatically send to your retailer to credit to your account.

Payments for planned supply interruptions will not apply under the following circumstances:

• Industrial action by our employees makes it unfeasible for us to give the correct notice at least 48 hours before the supply was cut off.
• The act or default of a person other than our representative made it unfeasible for us to give the correct notice at least 48 hours before the supply was cut off.
• It’s impractical for us to have identified you as being affected, and you haven’t made a claim within three months of the date on which the supply was cut off.

Clearly, we cannot notify you before an unplanned interruption, such as a burst. However, we aim to restore your supply within 12 hours.

If the interruption extends beyond that, we’ll automatically compensate you for this and each additional period of 12 hours during which the interruption continues.

If we believe the interruption period is going to be significant, where possible, we’ll arrange an alternative supply.

For domestic customers if we fail to restore the supply within 12 hours , we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £30. A further automatic payment of £30 will be made for each additional period of 12 hours during which the interruption continues.

Identifying all properties and customers affected by an interruption can be difficult. Where this is the case and you’ve been affected by an interruption, but we haven’t contacted you, to obtain any compensation, you must make a claim (either orally or in writing) within three months following the date on which the supply was interrupted or cut off. If you’d like to make a claim, please contact us.

If we were aware you had been affected by an interruption and we fail to provide you of the compensation due to you within 20 working days of the date of interruption, you may be entitled to a further penalty payment of £20, which we’ll automatically credit to your water services account.
For non-household customers if we fail to restore the supply within 12 hours, we’ll automatically send a credit your retailer.  Your retailer will then add a credit of £75 to your water services account with them.  A further automatic credit of £75 will be made to your retailer to add to your account with them for each additional period of 12 hours during which the interruption continues.

Identifying all properties and customers affected by an interruption can be difficult. Where this is the case and you’ve been affected by an interruption, but your retailer hasn’t contacted you or added a credit to your account with them, to obtain any compensation, you must make a claim (via your retailer either orally or in writing) within three months following the date on which the supply was interrupted or cut off. 

If we were aware you had been affected by an interruption and we fail to provide the appropriate credit to your retailer, due to you within 20 working days of the date of interruption, you may be entitled to a further penalty payment of £50.  We’ll automatically send this credit to your retailer to credit to your water services account that you have with them.

Payments for unplanned supply interruptions will not apply under the following circumstances:

• It’s impractical for us to have identified you as being affected, and you haven’t made a claim within three months of the date on which the supply was cut off.
• Severe weather prevented the supply being restored;
• Where the supply was interrupted or cut off due to a leak or burst on a strategic main, or for any other unplanned reason, the circumstances were so exceptional that it would be unreasonable to expect the supply to be restored within the relevant period;
• The regulation does not apply where supply is interrupted or cut off due to a drought.

For both domestic and non-household customers if, due to unplanned events, you experience significant low pressure – less than seven metres static head (0.7 bar) in your communication pipe – for more than one hour on two separate occasions within a 28-day period you will be entitled to a £25 compensation payment. We’ll credit our domestic customer water services accounts directly with this compensation amount.  For non-household customers, we will send the credit to your retailer for them to credit to your water services account that you have with them.

As identifying all properties affected by low water pressure can be difficult, you should make a claim to ensure you receive this compensation. Domestic claims must be made in writing within three months of the second occasion directly to Southern Water. If you’d like to make a claim, please contact us.  For non-household customers, please make any claims via your retailer.

Sewer flooding – general

Normally, we’ll aim to respond to a complaint of sewer flooding within two hours of the first report of flooding entering a property (internal) and within 24 hours if flooding is outside a property (external).

Where possible, we’ll also provide a disinfection service within 12 hours (internal flooding) or within 24 hours (external flooding).

Internal flooding

For domestic and non-household customers if your premises are internally flooded due to a failure of our drainage system, you’ll be eligible for a payment of an amount equivalent to your annual wastewater charge, from a minimum of £150 to a maximum of £1,000 for each incident. We’ll credit our domestic customer accounts directly with this compensation amount.  For non-household customers, we’ll send the credit to your retailer for them to credit to your account that you have with them.

We’ll write to you within 20 working days of the incident, enclosing details of payment and informing you of the action we plan to take and any investigations we intend to carry out.

If you do not receive a payment or credit to your account within 20 working days of the incident, domestic customers will be entitled to an additional payment of £20, which we’ll automatically credit to your account.  Non-household customers will be entitled to an additional payment of £50, which we’ll automatically send to your retailer to credit to your account.

External flooding

For domestic and non-household customers if your property is flooded externally due to a failure of our drainage system, you may claim an amount equivalent to half your annual sewerage charges – from a minimum of £75 to a maximum of £500.

You must make a claim within three months of the incident and provide information to prove you were materially affected by the flooding incident.  Domestic customers can claim directly from us using the form below, non-household customers will need to claim via their retailer.

If you are a domestic customer, and you have any photographs of the flooding, please include them when you submit our external flooding claim form. Forms can also be requested by calling our Contact Centre on 0330 303 0368 (calls charged at local rate).

For domestic customers we’ll write to you within 20 working days of receiving your substantiated claim, enclosing details of your payment.

For non-household customers we’ll make any payments to your retailer to credit onto your account that you hold with them.

For domestic customers, if we fail to send you a cheque or credit your account within 20 working days of receiving your claim, you’ll be entitled to an additional payment of £20.  For non-household customers if you do not receive a credit to your account attributable to our late payment to your retailer (within 20 working days of receiving your claim), you’ll be entitled to an additional payment of £50.  We’ll pay this to your retailer to credit to your account that you hold with them.

Internal and external flooding

If you experience both internal and external flooding in one incident, the payment you’re entitled to will be calculated based on internal flooding.

Conditions

In all cases, payments will not apply if:

• the flooding happened because of exceptional weather conditions, except where there is a repeat inadequate capacity issue that we were aware of or industrial action
• the flooding was caused by customer’s action or any defect, blockage or inadequacy of private sewers, council or highway drains
• you notified us more than three months after your property was flooded.

Account queries – Domestic customers only

We aim to respond to written account queries within five working days.

If we fail to respond to a written account query regarding the correctness of our charges within 10 working days of receiving your query, we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £20.

If we fail to credit your account within 10 working days of our reply, you’ll be entitled to a further penalty payment of £10, which we’ll automatically credit to your water services account.

We’ll respond to a request to change your payment method within five working days of receiving your request.

If we can’t agree to the request and fail to meet this standard, we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £20.

If we fail to credit your account within 10 working days of our reply, you’ll be entitled to a further payment of £10, which we’ll automatically credit to your water services account.

For domestic customers we aim to make a full response to a written complaint within five working days of receiving your letter.  If we fail to send a reply within 10 working days, we’ll automatically credit your water services account with £20.

For non-household customers if we fail to send a reply within 10 working days via your retailer, we’ll automatically send your retailer a credit to be applied to your water services account that you hold with them for £20.

For domestic customers if we fail to send you a refund cheque or a credit to your account within 10 working days of our reply, you’ll be entitled to a further penalty payment of £10, which we’ll automatically credit to your water services account.

For non-household customers if we fail to send the credit to your retailer within 10 working days of our reply, you’ll be entitled to a further penalty payment of £10.  We’ll pay this to your retailer to credit to your account that you hold with them.

We operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you report an emergency, an appointment on a future date isn’t appropriate and we’ll respond as quickly as we can.

When we need to visit you at your premises and you need to be present, we’ll advise you whether our visit will take place either morning (before 12pm) or afternoon (after 12pm). You can request the visit to occur in a two-hour period (if preferred)

For domestic and non-household customers if we book the appointment incorrectly by failing to specify a morning/afternoon slot – or two-hour slot, if requested – we’ll automatically credit domestic customer’s water services account with £20.  For non-household customers we send the £20 compensation payment to your retailer to credit the water services account that you hold with them.

For domestic and non-household customers if we don’t keep the appointment as made (the agreed day, morning/afternoon slot as specified, or two-hour time slot if agreed), we’ll automatically credit domestic customer’s water services account with £20. For non-household customers we send the £20 compensation payment to your retailer to credit the water services account that you hold with them. 

For domestic and non-household customers if we fail to make the appointment or cancel the appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice, we’ll automatically credit domestic customer’s water services account with £20. For non-household customers we’ll send the £20 compensation payment to your retailer to credit the water services account that you hold with them. 

Payments will not apply under the following circumstances:

• You cancel the appointment.
• We cancel the appointment, giving at least 24 hours’ notice.
• Keeping the appointment isn’t feasible due to severe weather.
• Keeping the appointment isn’t feasible due to industrial action by our employees.
• Keeping the appointment isn’t feasible due to an act or default of a person other our representative.

For domestic and non-household customers, if we fail to credit your account within 10 working days of the missed appointment date, you’ll be entitled to an additional compensation payment of £10, we’ll automatically credit domestic customer’s water services accounts.  For non-household customers we send the £10 compensation payment to your retailer to credit the water services account that you hold with them.