Thames Water accused of holding customers in contempt

A mother-of-two whose water was temporarily cut off said Thames Water holds its customers in contempt after an MP's attempts to get compensation for her and others failed.

Steph Mitchell lives with her family in the Newtown area of Reading, Berkshire, and they lost their water supply for at least a day in January 2024.

She asked Reading Central MP Matt Rodda for help and his office has tried to get compensation but has been left frustrated.

A Thames Water apologised for January 2024's problems, which were caused by cold weather, and said customers' accounts were credited with compensation.

Ms Mitchell said her family was inconvenienced on a busy Saturday night when their supply was lost at about 18:30, but went out to buy water from a local shop.

"We couldn't see anything on Thames Water's website at the time so we couldn't quite unpick what was going on. But in the end, when you're having any emergency in your home, you have to sort it out yourself, which is what we did," she said.

"You hope as a customer when you pay your bills regularly and on time that at least you get that basic level of service.

"What we have had from the water company is nothing and to my mind that shows complete contempt for us and the rest of the community."

Mr Rodda said some of his constituents lost water for two days 12 months ago.

"People weren't able to cook, they weren't able to have showers or baths," he added.

"Since then I have been asking Thames Water to compensate the residents. Thames Water initially said they would do this but then told my team that they have already paid compensation.

"But in fact they haven't and it seems they have confused two totally separate incidents, one in east Reading and one somewhere else.

"As a result the people in east Reading still haven't been compensated. I have been pushing and pushing and I'm really at the end of my tether and so are residents."

According to Citizens Advice, if there is a planned interruption to customers' supply for more than four hours, water companies must give two days' written notice.

The supply must be restored by the time stated in the notice.

If that is not the case, customers are usually entitled to £20 compensation.

If there are emergency interruptions, customers are usually entitled to compensation of £20 for the first 24 hours and £10 for every further 24-hour period that supply remains unrestored.

If that payment does not arrive within 20 working days, customers are entitled to another £20.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "We are sorry to those who experienced no water across Reading for a number of days in January 2024 following leaks and airlocks in our pipework, which occurred as a result of the cold weather.

"Where eligible for compensation, customers Thames Water accounts were automatically credited. This was calculated under our Customer Guarantee Scheme and would have been processed in 20 working days once water supply had returned."

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