Water company to pay compensation
People whose water supplies were interrupted during the recent cold snap will be compensated by Severn Trent.
The water company will be paying compensation to any customers who were without water for more than 12 continuous hours, or for more than 15 hours of intermittent supply, after the freezing temperatures and sudden thaw caused supply issues across the Midlands over recent days.
A payment of £30, which is roughly the same as having a month free on the average combined water and waste bill, will be offered to all homes affected so customers don’t need to do anything.
Sarah Bentley, chief customer officer at Severn Trent, said: “We’re incredibly sorry for the disruption which was caused by a huge number of bursts that put intense pressure on our water network.
“Our teams have faced an unprecedented number of leaks since the cold weather began. While we had extra teams in place working round the clock, and have hundreds of people out and about fixing bursts, we know that some customers were without water, and I really can’t apologise enough for that.
“While some customers are seeing water coming and going, the situation is much improved so we wanted to let people know about compensation.
“So, we’ll be compensating the people and families who were without water for 12 continuous hours or for more than 15 hours of intermittent supply with a deduction from their bill, and, once again, we’re just so sorry for the inconvenience this week.”
"Customers across the Midlands were affected by the huge increase in bursts caused by the sudden thaw after the Beast from the East.
"We’ve been working round the clock, and have brought in additional teams from outside the organisation to help fix leaks, ramped up production at our treatment works, and used our tanker fleet to keep on vital services such as hospitals. In addition, a number of bottle drops were organised in key locations and the company hand-delivered water to vulnerable customers.
"Domestic customers who will be receiving compensation do not need to do anything and will be contacted in the coming weeks. We’re always happy to discuss compensation claims from anyone who’s been affected on a case by case basis.
"We’ll also be working with business customers and their retailers who were also affected."
