Frequently asked questions for household customers

We know that water doesn’t reach every home in the same way. It depends on location for example during an incident homes on higher ground may lose water sooner and see the water return later, than those on lower ground.

To understand how each home is affected when there’s a water outage, we use special pressure sensors in our water pipes. These show us when water pressure changes, and by combining that with information about your property location, we can work out exactly when supply started or stopped for your property.

This could mean that properties located close to each other may receive different amounts of compensation, as we don’t just look at the wider area, we can see the impact on individual properties.

This method of calculating is the most accurate and fair way available to us.

How the payment is calculated

If your water supply is continuously interrupted for more than 12 consecutive hours, you are entitled to the following compensation:

• £30 once the first full 12-hour period has passed.
• After that, an additional £30 is paid for every further full 12-hour period the supply remains off.

Important Details:

• The clock starts when the water goes off.
• We only begin to assess compensation after the first full 12 hours.
• Any additional time must be a full 12 hours to qualify for another £30. For example:
• If the water is off for 23 hours, you receive £30.
• If it’s off for 25 hours, you still receive £60.
• If it’s off for 36 hours, you receive £90 (£30 for each full 12-hour block).

Customers who pay their water bill through direct debit will usually be paid through a direct credit to their bank account.

Customers that do not pay us by Direct Debit, will be sent a cheque in the post.

If the balance on your Welsh Water account is higher than the compensation payment, we will apply the compensation to your water bill.

If a customer does not pay Welsh Water for its services and pays an intermediary (i.e. customer pays Registered Social Landlord), Welsh Water will be reimbursing the intermediary who will be responsible for reimbursing the customer.

We aim to send payments within 20 working days.

If you're receiving a direct credit, it may take up to 5 working days to reach your account after it's sent.

If you're receiving a cheque, please allow up to 7 days for delivery after it's sent.

Household customers are entitled to £30 for each 12 hours you were without supply. This payment will be made automatically.

Our Water Operations Team will provide us with the full list of the properties affected. We will then identify those properties to check if the property was fully connected during the incident. Customers do not need to contact us as we will do this automatically.

No, compensation will only be paid to the customer who pays the water bill. The account holder who is not the occupier will be required to pass the compensation payment onto the occupier.

The compensation payment amount isn’t negotiable and is governed by industry guidelines, however you can submit an enquiry about compensation online here.

Compensation payments are reviewed by our Customer Minutes Lost Team, who analyse data from loggers that we have fitted to our water network and are able to determine how long customers have been without supply. The pressure data we’ve obtained in the area shows us how many hours you were off supply.

Due to us being a not-for-profit company we are closely monitored on any compensation payments we make, and all Guaranteed Standard of Service payments must be evidenced in accordance with Ofwat regulations.

Anyone else who may be living in the same household as the named account holder (e.g. spouse, partner or children). There will only be one payment per household.

We will only be paying the current named account holder i.e. the person named on the bill and who receives the bill from us.