Our Promise to You

Water companies must meet certain standards. As a company that’s owned on behalf of our customers, we go as far as possible to get things right first time, every time. Here’s an outline of our promise to you and what you may be entitled to if something goes wrong.

Unless stated otherwise, these payments will be automatically made to you, you don’t have to claim them. If you owe more than six weeks’ charges on your water/sewerage bill, we will credit your account instead. There are terms and conditions which means that we’re not able to make a payment in certain circumstances, such as where severe weather conditions, industrial action or the actions of a third party have made it impossible for us to meet our guaranteed service standards.

Your water

Planned interruptions

We will give you at least 48 hours’ notice if we have to carry out planned work that interrupts your supply for over four hours. If we don’t do this, we will give household customers £20 and business customers £50 within 20 working days.

We will restore your supply by the time stated on the notice. If we don’t do this, we will give household customers £30 and business customers £75 within 20 working days.

We will give you further compensation for every additional 12 hours the watercsupply remains interrupted. We will give household customers £30 and business customers £75 (per 12 hours) within 20 working days.

Unplanned interruptions

We will restore your supply within 12 hours of knowing about the problem. If we don’t do this, we will give household customers £30 and business customers £75 within 20 working days.

For every further 12 hours the water supply remains interrupted, you will also be compensated. We will give household customers £30 and business customers £75 (per 12 hours) within 20 working days. If we weren’t aware that your supply had been interrupted, you will need to make a claim by phone on 0800 052 0130 or in writing within three months of the event.

Drought order (not including hosepipe restrictions)

We will compensate you if your water supply is interrupted due to drought. We will give household customers £10 per day or part day (up to the limit of last year’s average household bill) and business customers £50 per day or part day (up to the limit of last year’s water charges for the premises or up to £500 if you were not liable for last year’s charges).

Water quality

If you telephone us about an unusual taste or smell to your water, or to tell us you think someone is ill as a result of drinking the water, we will get back to you within four hours unless we are already dealing with the problem in your area. If we don’t do this, you can claim £20.

If we take a water sample as a result of your call, we will give you the result within 10 working days. If we don’t do this, you can claim £20. These payments must be claimed within three months of the incident.

Call 0800 052 0130 and ask for a compensation claim form. If you owe us more than six weeks’ charges on your water/sewerage bill, we will credit your account. To find out about the water quality in your area, visit dwrcymru.com or call 0800 052 0130.

Water pressure

We will ensure that your water pressure is at the correct level. Minimum pressure is seven metres static head, equivalent to a flow of nine litres per minute. Where we are aware that your water pressure has dropped below this level for an hour or longer twice in a four-week period, we will give you compensation, unless the drop is due to essential work or drought. We will give you £25 within 20 working days (only one payment can be made a year). If we weren’t aware that you were affected, you will need to make a claim by phone on 0800 052 0130 or in writing within three months of the second occasion.

Fitting meters

We aim to fit your meter within three months of receiving your application. If we are able to fit a meter but we don’t, and the circumstances are within our control, we will give you £20 per month or part thereof within 10 working days of installation or we will apply an Assessed Measured Charge up to the date of installation.

Your wastewater

Internal sewage flooding

If you have suffered internal sewage flooding from our sewers (when sewage enters a building or your home or integral garage). We will give you a payment equivalent to your annual sewerage bill (a minimum of £150 and a maximum of £1,000 per incident) within 20 working days. In addition to this payment, if your home has been flooded internally by one of our sewers you will also automatically receive £100 goodwill payment for the disturbance the sewage flooding has caused.

External sewage flooding

If sewage enters your land or property preventing you from accessing your home; causes your garden to be extensively flooded, effectively leading to its destruction; or your outbuildings/non-integral garages being flooded from our sewers. We will give you a payment equivalent to half of your annual sewerage bill (a minimum of £75 and a maximum of £500 per incident) within 20 working days.

If our asset has been affected by 3rd party flows e.g. rivers/culverts the above payments may not be applicable.

Your service

Appointments

If we need to offer you an appointment, it will either be morning (8am-12pm) or afternoon (12pm-6pm) from Monday to Friday, or from 8am-12pm on Saturdays. If you ask us, we can offer a two hour appointment slot. If we miss an appointment, or don’t give 24 hours’ notice to cancel or change it, we will give you £20 within 10 working days.

Complaints & queries

If you write or telephone with a complaint about our service or with a query about your bill we will aim to reply to you within five working days of receiving it. If we don’t respond within 10 working days, we will give customers £20 within 10 working days.

Payment arrangement

If you write to change your payment arrangement or frequency, we will respond within five working days of receiving your request. If we don’t do this, we will give you £20 within 10 working days.

Charges & refunds

You can see how we calculate our water and sewerage charges online here:

• Measured charges
• Unmeasured charges

If you think we’ve calculated your bill incorrectly, please contact us and we will investigate it.

Other matters

Incorrect summons or judgments

If we incorrectly issue a county court claim against you for a debt for which you are not liable and for which you have previously informed us that you are not liable, we will correct the situation and withdraw the fees and costs. If we have done this, we will give you £100. If you owe us over six weeks’ charges on your water/sewerage bill, we will credit your account.

Credit references

If we incorrectly register a default against you with a credit reference agency we will correct the situation. If we have done this, we will give you £100. If you owe us over six weeks’ charges on your water/sewerage bill, we will credit your account.

Penalty payments

If we fail to make any of these payments within the stated time, then we will automatically give you a penalty payment. We will give household customers £20 and business customers £50.

Are you a landlord?

If you let out a property where services are supplied by us, there are Welsh Government regulations that apply to you.

You must:

• Tell us about a change of tenancy at any of your properties within 21 days of the change
• Provide tenancy details including full name, address, date of birth (where you hold it) and the dates any new tenants have been occupying the property.

You can give us this information:

• Through our website here
• Online at landlordtap.com
• By calling us on 0800 052 5842

If you don’t let us know these details, you could become responsible for charges.