DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
FreeTrafficLegalAdvice
HTML https://ftla.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Non-motoring legal advice
*****************************************************
#Post#: 107284--------------------------------------------------
Suing a water company
By: coffee pot Date: January 25, 2026, 3:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
There has been quite a lot of adverse publicity recently over
water failures in Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead recently.
These are supplied by South East Water (SEW). There has been
considerable criticism of SEW in the media by various
regulators, pointing out that they had been repeatedly warned
that their actions in terms of maintaining and planning ahead
were inadequate and that this was 'a disaster waiting to happen'
and that when the first outage occurred the regulator was not
satisfied that it could not happen again. It duly did.
You don't have a contract with the supplier; the country is
carved up into areas and you have no say in who supplies you and
apart from general service standards they seemingly have no
obligation to you - except to provide potable water sufficient
to drink. It’s all covered by the Water Act 2014.
HTML https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/21/contents
Remarkably, you then have a private company, with shareholders,
providing a regulated service which you have to accept whatever.
Less well known widely is that the same company imposed a TUB,
temporary use ban, in July 2025 in certain areas. This is
familiarly known as a hosepipe ban, and that effectively covers
what you can't do - anything that needs a hosepipe in a domestic
setting, effectively. This hosepipe ban was doubled down in
October 2025 and remarkably is still in place at the end of
January 206. Although Southern Water had a similar ban this was
lifted a month ago.
Winter rainfall has been above average to exceptional – January
will probably be in the top 10 for rain since records began in
the South.
I have been affected by this; because of where I live I pay my
supply bills to SEW and hence have been unable to use a hosepipe
for 6 months. I cannot wash cars or other vehicles properly; one
of my small pleasures in life is having clean vehicles, and I
own a pressure washer, various different cleaning agents (the
most effective of which requires two treatments of ‘foam’
sprayed on with said pressure washer) to that end. Furthermore,
we live on the coast, and regularly get everything sprayed with
salt whenever the weather is bad, and you will recall we have
suffered Storms Eunice and Goretti recently. The salt is highly
corrosive to ironwork and cars should be rinsed off regularly in
such conditions. I have been unable to do any of this and the
vehicles’ condition is starting to suffer. I also have a drive
and a patio, and the pressure washer has an attachment that
allows me to clean and weed these effectively. I have been
unable to do this, and we are starting to see damage to cement
around the patio from moss growth and growth between blocks on
the drive. We have a greenhouse, and that should have been
cleaned at the end of the growing season, again with the
pressure washer to ensure that the windows are clean,
overwintering snails are flushed out etc.
Had my hobby have been golf, my pleasures would be unaffected as
golf courses, being commercial enterprises have been able to use
as much as they want.
I have tried to ameliorate this; I paid £200 for a battery
powered washer and have 3 barrels, each of 200L, I collect my
own rainwater in, and that has helped to an extent, but these
are at my cost and the washer isn’t nearly powerful enough.
I am therefore considering whether I can sue SEW for loss of
amenity, damage to my vehicles through unmitigated salt and
damage and need for reparation on my drive, patio and
greenhouse. The head of claim is clearly their negligence. While
there is no definition of ’temporary’ legally, there comes a
point when maintaining a ban on something temporarily for half
the year when there should be no need is clearly not the actions
of a competent supplier and can readily be argued as
unreasonable, especially as no other water provider has done so.
Any thoughts?
#Post#: 107469--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suing a water company
By: The Slithy Tove Date: January 27, 2026, 3:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
My only thoughts are they they (and the other private water
companies) are a total disgrace, and Ofwat is as bad, if not
worse, for not properly regulating them. I have the worse of
both worlds, with the incompetent SE Water providing my water
(fortunately not in the areas affected recently) and my waste
water handled by the even more incompetent Thames. The former
are putting up the bills by some stupid amount, and Thames by
even more (something like 50%). I don't buy their claims of
investing in infrastructure, as that's what they've been telling
us for years. Where the reality is that they have been jacking
up the bills, not investing, but instead borrowing so they can
shell out huge dividends and bonuses. If they want to invest,
then the shareholders should be made to pay (through rights
issues, for example). And if I refuse to pay their unjustified
increases? I have no defence, and will be sued.
They are the mafia of the privatised public sector. Don't expect
to get anywhere with any lawsuit.
#Post#: 110588--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suing a water company
By: Brenda_R2 Date: February 21, 2026, 9:39 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=The Slithy Tove
link=topic=9649.msg107469#msg107469 date=1769506773]
Don't expect to get anywhere with any lawsuit.
[/quote]
Yes and the same applies to all major corporates.
These companies have masses of money to use to defend legal
actions and an in-house team of solicitors to process those
claims.
You'll run out of money long before they do regardless of any
merit your claim has.
*****************************************************