Can I get compensation if my water supply is cut off?

Short answer

Yes. Under Ofwat’s Guaranteed Standards a supply interruption of more than 12 hours triggers an automatic £20 payment, plus £10 for each further 12 hours, capped at £1,000. It should be credited without you claiming — check your account, because it is often missed.

Water and sewerage companies in England and Wales operate under Guaranteed Standards of Service set by Ofwat. Breach a standard and compensation is automatic — it does not depend on proving loss, and you should not have to argue for it. In practice payments are regularly missed, so the first step after any failure is to check the account and ask.

What triggers an automatic payment

Supply interruptions — £20 for an interruption lasting more than 12 hours, then £10 for each additional 12 hours, up to a total of £1,000.
Low pressure — where pressure falls below the required standard on more than a set number of occasions.
Missed appointments to read a meter or carry out work.
Billing failures — late billing, or failing to answer a complaint within the required time.

Sewer flooding is treated more seriously again. Report flooding from a public sewer to the company immediately: it has a duty under the Water Industry Act 1991 to maintain the network and to investigate. Photograph everything, with dates and times. Repeated flooding may entitle you to be placed on the company's at-risk register, which triggers further obligations to act.

Escalating beyond the company

If the company will not pay or the underlying problem persists, take it through its formal complaints procedure and then to the Consumer Council for Water — free, independent, and able to investigate and recommend remedies including compensation and infrastructure work. Contact CCW at ccwater.org.uk or on 0300 034 2222.

If CCW has investigated and you are still dissatisfied, WATRS — the Water Redress Scheme — provides a binding adjudication. It is free to customers and can award up to £5,000. Ofwat sits above all of this as the economic regulator: it will not resolve your individual dispute, but it does want to hear about systemic failures and can investigate and sanction a company for them.

One related protection is worth checking if a large catch-up bill has arrived: a water company can normally only back-bill for 12 months where the delay in billing was its own fault. Check the period the bill covers before paying anything.

Read the full guide: Water Company ComplaintsCovers eligibility, the process, deadlines, and next steps in depth.

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