Call for more compensation for water customers

Compensation was given to customers hit by supply issues at sewage treatment works in January 2024

Thousands of residents should be paid more compensation after losing water during two major outages, an MP has said.

Reading Central's Matt Rodda has written to Thames Water's chief operating officer, calling for more money for 6,778 households and commercial properties.

Customers are set to receive £30 for the loss of water and a further £30 for each additional 12-hour period without water, but the MP said it should be increased to £50.

Thames Water said the amount of the payments reflected the company's "regulatory obligations at the time of these water outages".

The compensation is for a water outage following a supply interruption at Pangbourne Water Treatment Works in January 2024.

As well as burst water mains in Reades Lane, Sonning Common, in November.

In his letter, the MP thanked Thames Water for "acknowledging the impact that these had on residents".

"I am pleased that the company has agreed to pay compensation to 6,778 households and commercial properties in the Reading area," Mr Rodda said.

Matt Rodda, MP for Reading Central, is urging Thames Water to increase its compensation

But he said he was pushing for the compensation to be increased to £50.

This would bring it in line with current rules on compensation, introduced by water regulator, Ofwat, which came into force on 2 July.

He said: "In addition, to maintain public confidence in the compensation payments scheme I would ask Thames Water to publish the total value of compensation paid and the number of households and businesses which have received compensation for the two incidents.

"It would also be helpful to know how many households received the initial payment and how many received additional payments for both initial interruption to water supplies and payments for 12 hours and 24 hours without water."

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "We apologise to our customers in the Reading and Caversham areas who were affected by water outages last year.

"Payments were made to customers under our Customer Guarantee Scheme, which reflect both our regulatory obligations at the time of these water outages in 2024 and additional compensation we choose to provide."