Your Surface Water Drainage Claim

The problem lies in the fact the water companies have simply assumed that all homes are connected to their drainage networks and that they are justified in charging you a fee dealing with the rain that falls on your property (i.e. the roof, garden, driveway...) and runs off as surface water.  However, as many as 5 million homes are not actually connected to these drainage networks and their surface water is handled by a soakaway and/or nearby streams/rivers.  The people who are not connected have been/are being charged unjustly and are eligible to make a claim.

We can help you find out, but you need to be able to prove that your surface water runs off into a soakaway or other drainage channel without using the water company's drainage network.  If you know you have a soakaway and are not connected to any drains, then you should be able to claim.  Also the building regulations changed in 2001, with developers being required to install soakaways wherever possible - so if you live in a property built from 2001 onwards, it is highly likely that your surface water is not drained away by your water company.

This depends on how much your water company has charged you and for how many years.
The longer you have lived in your current home and been overcharged for surface water drainage, the larger the potential claim.  Also, each water company sets the amount it will charge for surface water drainage on a yearly basis and some charge much higher fees than others. The 3 companies that have charged the most for surface water drainage in recent years are United Utilities, Northumbrian Water and Severn Trent Water, which have typically charged in the region of £60-£75 per year.   In our experience, a typical claim could be worth around £500 - but if you are claiming against one of these 3 companies and have lived in your current home for many years, you claim could be worth significantly more.

Yes, you can try! In fact OFWAT and some of the water companies themselves have published information on their websites showing you how you can go about asking for a "rebate".  The problem is that the consumer (you) has to prove that they are eligible to claim and the water companies often seem to make this process very difficult - making you complete long complex forms and asking you to produce diagrams or photographic evidence.  Then they themselves decide whether you qualify! Even if you do get through this process, the water companies will commonly offer to refund just the current year's surface water charge and to remove it from future bills. But, if you want to try and claim back further, you've got yourself a fight!  This is where we come in, as we have a tried & tested approach which we believe gives you the best chance of claiming back all the money you have been overcharged you started paying your water bills (plus interest), in as little as 3-6 months.   

To begin with, we just need to know when you started to pay the water bills for your current property, the address of the property and which water company you pay, along with your basic contact details.  We can then carry out a free initial assessment of any potential claim and then advise on next steps, so please click here to see if you qualify to claim.