Six of the UK’s biggest water companies may have to pay up to £510m in compensation after being accused of overcharging businesses, charities and local authorities by concealing the scale of their sewage spills. Environmental consultant Professor Carolyn Roberts and law firm RPC have issued letters to each of the six firms – Thames Water, Severn Trent Water, Northumbrian Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water – notifying them of their intention to take legal action on behalf of around one million non-household customers they claim have been overcharged.

Photo by Pok Rie

The six companies have allegedly concealed their underperformance by underreporting the number of raw sewage spills released into seas and waterways in the UK. They are accused of charging customers more than they would have been able to had they reported the true scale of their spills. However, a spokesperson for Water UK, the industry representative, has said the claim was “highly speculative” and “entirely without merit”.

Meanwhile, millions of pounds of fines previously imposed on water firms are set to fund environmental schemes to protect the country’s waterways, after fears the money would be diverted to the Treasury. The water restoration fund was set up by the Conservative government to ensure that polluting water firms paid for the damage they caused, and received £11m in fines and penalties from April 2022 to October 2023. Environmental campaigners wanted an amendment in the Water (Special Measures) Act to ensure all future fines imposed on water firms would be ring-fenced for restoration projects, following concerns the fund could be ‘siphoned off’ to be used for general government spending, rather than repairing rivers. While the amendment was not included in the new bill, the government announcement of the money for the restoration schemes comes after the Water (Special Measures) Act was passed last month. Stakeholders that submitted applications to the fund last year will be notified this week whether they will receive grants.