Islanders who have been affected by water supply issues in the wake of recent stormy weather, which led to properties in Ventnor, St Lawrence, Whitwell and Niton being without water, are eligible for compensation from Southern Water. Southern Water initially warned that up to 31,000 properties on the Island could be at risk of supply issues due to pressure put on the local network, with issues around the Carisbrooke works. However, this risk soon diminished and no properties lost supply. It wasn’t long until another threat emerged and this time it did have an impact with homes and businesses in Ventnor losing water over the weekend. Due to the fact the outage is unplanned, if the water company fails to restore the supply within 12 hours, they’ll automatically credit your water services account with £30. A further automatic payment of £30 will be made for each additional period of 12 hours during which the interruption continues. It’s understood some properties were affected for more than 12 hours. If Southern Water has been made aware you had been affected by an interruption and has failed to provide you of the compensation due to you within 20 working days of the date of interruption, you may be entitled to a further penalty payment of £20, which will be automatically credited to your water services account. A post on the Southern Water website says:
“Identifying all properties and customers affected by an interruption can be difficult. Where this is the case and you’ve been affected by an interruption but we haven’t contacted you, to obtain any compensation, you must make a claim (either orally or in writing) within 3 months following the date on which the supply was interrupted or cut off”.
To make a claim, complete the form at the bottom of the page at https://www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/contact-us.
