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Domestic Customers code of practice Portsmouth Water Domestic Customers Delivering excellence for our customers, our people and our environment How to contact us PO Box 8 West Street Havant Hampshire PO9 1LG Website www.portsmouthwater.co.uk E-mail [email protected] Water Account Enquiries (8.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday) 023 9249 9666 Freephone Debt Line 0800 432 0534 24 Hour Freephone Automated Payment Line 0800 0480021 General Enquiries (8.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday) 023 9249 9888 Operations Centre (24 Hour Emergency Service and Reporting of Leaks) 023 9247 7999 Freephone Leak Line 0800 434 6104 Water Regulation Enquiries 023 9244 9088 New Supplies 023 9244 9088 Mains & Service Repairs 023 9244 9082 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers Contents How to contact us ...............................................................inside front cover Introduction ....................................................................................................3 Regulation of the water industry ................................................................4 Water supply services ......................................................................................6 Area of supply ..................................................................................................6 Quality ..............................................................................................................6 Quantity ............................................................................................................8 Pressure ...........................................................................................................9 Interruptions to supply .....................................................................................9 Connections ...................................................................................................10 Responsibility for pipes ..................................................................................13 Leaks ..............................................................................................................14 Lead pipes .....................................................................................................15 Shared service pipes .....................................................................................16 Badly rusted service pipes .............................................................................16 Electrical earthing ...........................................................................................16 Protection of water supplies against contamination ......................................17 Compulsory metering .....................................................................................17 Meter option ...................................................................................................17 How to read your water meter ........................................................................18 Meter siting .....................................................................................................19 Meter accuracy...............................................................................................19 Tampering with meters ...................................................................................20 Vulnerable customers ....................................................................................20 Changing address .........................................................................................21 Company representatives ..............................................................................21 Priority Services Register ...............................................................................22 Water efficiency ..............................................................................................22 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers Charging matters ........................................................................................25 Water tariffs ....................................................................................................25 Price changes ................................................................................................26 Unmeasured bills ...........................................................................................26 Metered bills ...................................................................................................26 Payment facilities............................................................................................27 Enquiries and complaints ..........................................................................30 Account queries .............................................................................................30 Complaints or queries about water services .................................................30 Our response to your written complaint .........................................................31 Auditing the complaints procedure ................................................................32 Compensation if the Guaranteed Standard on complaints is not met ..........32 What to do if you are dissatisfied with a response to your complaint ...........32 Settling disputes - Ofwat ................................................................................33 Guaranteed Standards Scheme ................................................................37 Keeping of appointments ...............................................................................37 Responses to enquiries about bills and/or alternative methods of payment ...37 Response to written complaints .....................................................................37 Meter reading .................................................................................................37 Supply interruptions .......................................................................................37 Restoration of water supplies .........................................................................38 Minimum pressure standard ..........................................................................38 Failure to meet standards ..............................................................................39 How to claim ..................................................................................................39 Compensation policy ..................................................................................40 Codes and leaflets ......................................................................................41 Other useful contacts .................................................................................42 Water saving tips ................................................................ inside back cover 1 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers 2 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers Introduction This Code of Practice informs you of the main services we provide, our commitment to our domestic customers and tells you where and how to get advice and help. This code makes up a suite of codes comprising of Customer, Leakage and Debt Recovery codes. Details of these codes, along with other leaflets and useful contact points can be found on the inside front cover and pages 41 and 42. Upon request, we can supply any of our codes, leaflets and booklets in a large print. 3 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers Regulation of the water industry The Water Industry Act 1991 Secondly, the Secretary of State enables all public water supply and sets specific standards of drinking sewerage services in England and water quality which we have to Wales to be provided by private observe and standards which we sector companies and provides must meet when carrying out our for a strengthened framework of basic water supply duties. It is a customer protection. Your individual criminal offence to supply water statutory rights are maintained and unfit for human consumption, and strengthened under this Act, for proceedings can be taken against example you can take civil action a company supplying such water against us for any loss or damage by either the Secretary of State or sustained if we fail in our duty the Director of Public Prosecutions. under the Act to supply water for Drinking water quality standards domestic purposes. In addition to are monitored by the Drinking respecting your statutory rights we Water Inspectorate. are also subject to different sets of controls as explained below. Thirdly, the local Council’s Environmental Health Officer also Firstly, we operate under a has responsibility for quality and licence which places a ceiling health issues arising the use of on the average annual price water. increase which we can charge through a formula related to Finally, the Environment Agency movements in the Retail Prices regulates our abstraction of water Index. The independent Water from underground aquifers, rivers Services Regulation Authority and other inland waters, under the (Ofwat) ensures that we comply provisions of the Water Reservoirs with this and other conditions Act 1991. of our appointment. Ofwat also has responsibility to ensure that The interests of our consumers are customers interests are protected represented by an independent in respect of the quality of service body - the Consumer Council for we provide as well as our level of Water - London and South East. charges. This Committee investigates complaints and provides advice 4 Code of Practice l Domestic Customers and information to all water and sewerage consumers in the Southern Region.
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