Claiming to cover the costs
If your home or its contents has been damaged by sewage, follow this guidance to make sure you receive the right compensation.
Who is responsible for the damage?
Wessex Water has no control over excessive rainfall that can overwhelm the sewerage system or what is put into public sewers.
This means we have no legal liability for damage caused by sewage flooding – the exception is where we have been negligent.
Contacting your insurance company
If sewage flooding has caused damage, you should contact your household insurance company immediately.
You may need to involve both your buildings and contents insurers if they’re different companies or policies.
Any claims for loss or damage must be directed to them. They will tell you what you will need to do to make sure the terms and conditions of your policy are met.
Contents insurance cover
Household contents insurance policies vary but they normally cover the contents in the house, including:
- moveable furniture
- carpets
- electrical appliances
- clothing
- other personal effects.
Loss of consumables, such as heating oil or food may also be covered. Plants, lawns, shrubs and flowerbeds in the garden may be covered (usually up to a specified amount).
You should always check with your insurer for the exact details of your policy cover.
Buildings insurance cover
Household buildings insurance tends to cover the structure of the building, including permanent fixtures and fittings. Normally it will include:
- kitchen and bathroom fittings
- domestic outbuildings
- ornamental ponds
- tennis courts
- swimming pools
- septic tanks
- central heating fuel tanks
- walls, gates, fences, hedges, drives, paths and patios.
In some cases, there may also be cover for accidental damage to the underground services for which you’re responsible. You should always check with your insurer for the exact details of your policy cover.
Claiming on your insurance
Household insurance covers sewage flooding or any insurable risk leading to loss or damage to your property or its contents.
It is in your interest to contact your own insurers and let them handle any claim.
If you check your policy, you’ll probably find that it gives cover on a ‘new for old’ basis, but any liability claim proved against us would be paid taking into account wear and tear.
Also, reimbursement from your insurer is given even if anyone is to blame for the event. If your insurance company shows we’ve been negligent, they will claim the costs back from us.
What to do if you have to pay an excess
Your policy will normally have an excess that you need to pay when making a claim.
If you do have a policy excess, we’ll consider reimbursing you if your claim is the result of sewage flooding from a public sewer.
Please send confirmation from your insurers of your policy excess to our insurance department.
You can email insurance@wessexwater.co.uk or write to Insurance department, Wessex Water, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7WW.
What to do if your no claims bonus is affected
Your policy may provide a no claims clause which could affect your renewal premium if you claim.
If you do have a policy with a no claims clause and your premium is increased after a claim for damage due to our negligence, we’ll consider an ex-gratia payment if we get written confirmation from your insurers.
What to do if you have no household insurance
If you don’t have insurance due to financial hardship, we will consider an ex-gratia payment.
If you want us to consider an ex-gratia payment, please send the details of your uninsured loss to our insurance department.
Where relevant you should include a letter from your insurers detailing items not covered by your household insurance policy.
You can email insurance@wessexwater.co.uk or write to Insurance department, Wessex Water, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7WW.
Are you entitled to compensation from Wessex Water?
Under our promise, if the flooding was caused by a problem with the public sewer, we will compensate you.
Internal flooding
If your property has been flooded inside, you will automatically receive an amount equivalent to your annual sewerage charges or £150 – whichever is greater – subject to a maximum of £1,000 per incident.
We'll aim to write to you with your payment within five working days of the incident (up to a maximum of 20 working days) and tell you what action we will take and any investigations we will carry out. If we fail to make a payment within the 20 working days we will automatically pay you a penalty payment of £20.
Within one month of the flooding, we’ll write to update you on our investigation into the incident and the next steps we will take.
External flooding
In the event of an external flooding incident, you can claim compensation equivalent to 50% of your annual sewerage charges or £75 – whichever is greater – subject to a maximum of £500 per incident.
You cannot claim a payment if:
- the external flooding happened because of exceptional weather conditions (unless it is a repeat inadequate capacity issue we are aware of)
- the flooding was caused by your actions or any defect, blockage or inadequacy of private drainage, council or highway drains
- you told us more than three months after your property was flooded.