Firms told to fix long-term service urgently for sewer flood victims

Ofwat and CCW have called for urgent action from wastewater companies to improve the service they provide to customers who have experienced the misery of sewage flooding their home.

The watchdogs said firms could implement the following actions immediately:

• provide an emergency service to victims of sewer flooding;

• make all communications proactive, clear, empathetic and helpful, with a single point of contact to support the customer from incident to resolution;

• respond quickly to incidents, be transparent about the causes of flooding and timescales for when they will be fixed; and

• ensure clear information on, and payment of, compensation alongside good record keeping so customers automatically receive the payments they are eligible for.

The call came on the back of joint Ofwat/CCW research, which found that despite providing a good service initially, wastewater companies are falling short when it comes to longer term communication, resolution and compensation for sewer flooding victims. The research found these unsatisfactory responses leave customers feeling anxious, angry, frustrated and sometimes trapped. Furthermore, the psychological impact can be long-lasting: participants in the study reported sleepless nights and feelings of shame.

In addition, many participants reported that they did not receive compensation, while some who did felt that it did not cover the costs they incurred or recognise the physical and emotional impact they endured.

Ofwat chair, Jonson Cox, said: “When it happens, customers rightly see sewer flooding as an emergency. Yet our investigation shows that companies’ response can make a bad situation even worse. The stories we heard were harrowing and unacceptable. Companies must urgently address how they communicate with customers who suffer this, how they fix the problem, and the compensation they provide to victims.”

Chief executive of CCW, Emma Clancy, said: “Through CCW's End Sewer Flooding Misery Campaign, we’re calling for improved compensation and clean-up standards for sewer flooding victims. Individual customer service agents are showing empathy to sewer flooding victims, but too often the perception is that the company’s empathy stops there. We want to see companies’ senior leadership teams showing commitment to ensure that flood victims feel that their water company is proactively there to help throughout their experience, from the initial response through to compensation and resolution.”