South West Water has announced it will pay £250 in compensation to around 13,000 households affected by recent water outages.
The payments follow a major burst pipe incident that left thousands of properties without water for several days.
Affected households in Plymouth, Tavistock and Torquay will receive the compensation directly credited to their accounts. Businesses impacted by the disruption will receive a higher payment of £500.
The compensation package exceeds the statutory requirements for water supply interruptions. South West Water told This is Money it would credit affected domestic customers with a guaranteed £50 payment per 12 hours without service, and £50 for each subsequent 12-hour period.
This is significantly more than the current statutory amounts of £20 per 12 hours, and £10 per subsequent 24-hour period.
Business customers will receive £100 per 12 hours and £100 for each subsequent 12-hour period.
Thousands of households to receive £250 cash this weekend
GETTYThis exceeds the statutory payments of £50 per 12 hours and £25 for each subsequent 12-hour period. Businesses can also apply for compensation for additional loss of service.
The incident occurred on April 20 when a large 600mm diameter pipe that supplies raw water to Dousland Water Treatment Works suddenly failed and burst. The rupture left approximately 13,000 properties in Plymouth and Tavistock without water.
South West Water described the compensation packages as a "gesture of goodwill" to make amends for the significant disruption caused.
The water outage affected thousands of households for several days, causing considerable inconvenience to residents across the affected areas. On April 22, two days after the burst, around 9,500 properties were still without water.
Water bills are set to rise by as much as 20 per cent GETTYDavid Harris, SWW's managing director for water services, said at the time that the aim was to "have everyone back on water by the time they wake up in the morning."
By April 23, South West Water published a statement confirming the issue had been fixed.
"We are pleased to say that customers should now be back in supply," a spokesman for SWW said on that day.
The water supply was restored to all affected properties by April 23.
A spokesman for SWW said: "This is over and above the current statutory amounts of £20 per 12 hours, and £10 per subsequent 24-hour period."
South West Water described the compensation as a "gesture of goodwill" to make amends for the disruption
SOUTH WEST WATERThe company confirmed the total payment to household customers would be £250, with further details to be confirmed by letter in the coming days.
South West Water described the compensation as a "gesture of goodwill" to make amends for the disruption.
The water provider said it will share details of the additional compensation process for businesses as soon as possible.
During the outage, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View, Fred Thomas, described the situation as "unacceptable."
In their statement on April 23, South West Water apologised to customers affected by the disruption. "We want to apologise again for the inconvenience this has caused, but we would also like to thank all of our customers for their patience and kindness to our teams on the ground providing bottled water," a spokesman said.
