天美影院

• Increase to water company reimbursements put more money back into customers鈥� pockets when their services are hit
• Triggers for compensation to be expanded to include company failure to conduct meter readings and installations
• One of Environment Secretary鈥檚 first promises in office delivered as government rolls out plan to reform the water sector

Water companies will increase compensation payments to customers up to tenfold from today (2 July), ensuring that the public are more fairly reimbursed for supply issues and low standards of service.聽聽

Customers will automatically receive more money for issues such as continued low water pressure and cancelled appointments.聽

A key step in the government鈥檚 mission to reform the water sector, the move marks the first uplift in compensation rates in 25 years, with the government recognising the urgent need to bring payments in line with inflation and properly compensate households for poor service.聽

Severe issues such as flooding will see customer compensation double from 拢1,000 to up to 拢2,000, while households suffering consistent low water pressure will be automatically eligible to receive up to 拢250 鈥� a huge uplift from the previous compensation rate of just 拢25. 聽

From today, no action will be needed from eligible customers as payments will automatically be credited back to their accounts.聽

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said:聽聽

Too many water companies are letting down their customers 鈥� with leaking pipes, poor water supply and low water pressure.聽聽

The Government is holding water companies to account by making them put money back into people鈥檚 pockets when they fail their customers.

The government is also working with water companies to expand the list of circumstances that will trigger compensation payments. Compensation for when customers are asked to boil their water due to contaminated supply will come into force later this year.聽

The standards, outlined in the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, set out a baseline for customer service in the water sector. They include providing timely restoration of water supply following an interruption, responding to written complaints and managing the risk of sewer flooding.聽聽

This comes as part of the government鈥檚 action to cut sewage spills and attract investment in the sector, including: 聽

• Strengthening regulation to ensure polluting water bosses who cover up their crimes now face two-year prison sentences.
• Banning unfair bonuses for bosses of six polluting water companies.
• Launching a record 81 criminal investigations into sewage pollution.
• Securing 拢104bn in private sector investment to upgrade crumbling sewage pipes and cut sewage by nearly half by 2030.
• Launching the Independent Water Commission led by Sir John Cunliffe to modernise the water industry and work with companies and their investors to make the industry one of growth and opportunity.

Mike Keil, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), said:聽聽

Customers expect to be treated fairly when their water company lets them down, so we鈥檙e delighted the Government has moved at pace to strengthen service standards.鈥澛犅�

This should give people peace of mind they now have far stronger protection from a much broader range of water company service failures - from the slow installation of water meters to the mishandling of debt recovery. As well as bolstering payments for thousands of customers, these changes mark an important step towards restoring trust in the water sector which is at an all-time low.

David Black, Chief Executive of Ofwat said:聽

We welcome these improvements to guaranteed standards and payments for customers.聽

When customers suffer from problems like low pressure, disruptions to supply or sewer flooding they can experience major stress and inconvenience, and payment amounts must recognise the disruption to their lives when standards are not met.聽聽

These new changes are another way to make sure customers are protected when companies get it wrong.

Annex A

Summary of updates to payment levels for existing standards:

Existing Standards	Coming into force date	Old GSS payment		New GSS payments		Uplift
		Household	Non-Household	Household	Non-Household	Household	Non-Household
Appointments not made properly	2 July	拢20		拢40		100%
Appointments not kept	Uprated payments to existing standard 鈥� 2 July Amended standard 1 Oct	拢20		拢50		150%
Account queries not actioned on time	Uprated payments to existing standard 鈥� 2 July Amended standard 1 Oct	拢20		拢40		100%
Requests to change payment arrangements not actioned on time	Uprated payments to existing standard 鈥� 2 July Amended standard 1 Oct	拢20		拢40		100%
Complaints not actioned on time	Uprated payments to existing standard 鈥� 2 July Amended standard 1 Oct	拢20		拢40		100%
Less than 48 hours鈥� notice of planned supply interruption of more than 4 hours	2 July	拢20	拢50	拢50	拢100	150%	100%
Supply not restored on time	2 July	拢20, and 拢10 for each subsequent 24 hours	拢50, and 拢25 for each subsequent 24 hours	拢50, and 拢50 for each subsequent 12 hours	拢100, and 拢100 for each subsequent 12 hours	150% for initial payment, 400% for subsequent payment and halved subsequent payment period	100% (for both initial and subsequent payment) and halved subsequent payment period
Low pressure	2 July	拢25 (once per financial year)		拢50, up to five payments per financial year 鈥� equivalent to just over the average water bill. Automatic 拢250pa for customers with ongoing low pressure		100% and increased annual maximum by 10x
Internal flooding from sewers	2 July	Payment equal to annual sewerage charges (Minimum payment of 拢150. Maximum of 拢1000)		Payment equal to annual sewerage charges, at minimum of 拢300 and maximum of 拢2000		Min and Max increased by 100%, with provision for repeated incidents in a year to warrant further increases to the maximum (see fig 1)
External flooding from sewers	2 July	Payment equal to 50% of annual sewerage charges (Minimum payment of 拢75. Maximum of 拢500)		Payment equal to 50% of annual sewerage charges, at minimum of 拢150 and maximum of 拢1000		Min and Max increased by 100%, with provision for repeated incidents in a year to warrant further increases to the maximum (see fig 1)
Failure to make automatic GSS payment	2 July	拢10-20 depending on standard	拢10-50 depending on standard	拢40	拢100	100-200% depending on standard, consolidating all payments to one value for households and one value for non-households

Figure 1 鈥揜epeat Sewer Flooding payment bands

	Max	Min
Internal Sewer Flooding	拢2000 + 拢500 per repeat occurrence within 12 months	拢300 + 拢100 per repeat occurrence within 12 months
External Sewer Flooding	拢1000 + 拢250 per repeat occurrence within 12 months	拢150 + 拢50 per repeat occurrence within 12 months

Summary of new standards

New Standard	Coming into force	Information	GSS payments
			Household	Non-Household
Core Priority 天美影院	1 Oct	The company must keep a list of customers whose circumstances (such as medical or disability) are such that they require additional services to be provided in certain circumstances. The company must provide the relevant service to the customer in response to an incident and must inform the customer if they are added to the Core Priority 天美影院 Register.	拢100	N/A
Domestic Customer in Arrears	1 Oct	Giving information relating to the customer鈥檚 non-payment to a Credit Reference Agency or beginning legal proceedings to recover the debt without giving the customer an 鈥榦utstanding charges notice鈥� and an opportunity to make payment arrangements or make representations in connection with them.	拢150	N/A
Reading of Meters	1 Oct	The water company must read a customer鈥檚 water meter (excluding smart meters) at least once every 13 months	拢40 (拢80 for each subsequent 13-month period)	拢40 (拢80 for each subsequent 13-month period)
Moving to Measured Charging Supply of Water	1 Oct	The water company must (subject to some exceptions) install a water meter upon request and then begin to charge the customer on the basis of the volume of water used. If the company fails to do this within the relevant time, the water company must pay the customer.	Payment equivalent to charges payable in the period from the date that charging by volume should have started until meter fitted and charging by volume begins.	N/A
Water Quality Notices	1 Oct	Payment is to be made to a customer if a water quality notice is served and supply is not restored by the end of a 48-hour period.	If a notice is in place for longer than 48 hours, 拢40 plus 拢20 per additional 24 hours that the notice is in place, up to a maximum of the customer鈥檚 annual water supply (not including sewerage services) bill	If a notice is in place for longer than 48 hours, 拢60 plus 拢40 per additional 24 hours that the notice is in place, up to a maximum of the customer鈥檚 annual water supply (not including sewerage services) bill
Indexation	2 July	The payment amounts will increase in line with the consumer price index when this increases by 10% (using September 2025 as the baseline) and rounded to the nearest 拢5