Can I get compensation for flood damage caused by a water or sewerage company?

Speak to your home insurance provider.

Whether your water or sewerage company is liable depends if the water is clean, from a supply main or sewage from a public sewer.

If the inside of your property is flooded because of a problem with the water main, your water supply company is liable for damage. They will offer a full clean-up service and make a compensation payment – the amount varies between water companies.

Your insurer will recover the cost of putting right any damage from the company. If you are not insured, contact the water company direct. They may arrange for a loss adjuster to visit and assess the damage.

Your sewerage company is not usually liable for damage caused by sewer flooding unless they have been negligent. They will offer a clean-up and disinfection service and refund all or part of your sewerage charges for that year (up to a maximum of £1,000) under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS). A GSS payment will not be made where the flooding was caused by:

• extreme weather conditions*
• industrial action by company employees
• something you have done or a problem in your own private drains or sewers

*Extreme weather conditions’ are not defined by law. Public sewerage networks are designed to withstand storms intense enough to occur only once every 25 years. As storms bringing extremely heavy rain in a short period are becoming more frequent, it may not now be reasonable for sewerage companies to class such storms as ‘extreme weather conditions’. Data to confirm the intensity of rainfall can be obtained from the Meteorological Office.