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Surface Water Drainage charge backdate - South West Water capitulates

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Further to my earlier thread - Surface water drainage refund claim dated 29/01/13 – I am pleased to report that after repeated denials and, faced with the prospect of arguing the case in court, South West Water have agreed my claim as per this extract from their latest email:

“Based upon the evidence that you have now provided I have discussed the situation with a Senior Manager, who has agreed that it is reasonable for us to assume that the company should have been aware that your property did not benefit from a Surface Water Drainage connection. Given this we have now applied a further adjustment to your account covering the period from 1 April 2001 when the lower tariff was introduced, up to 31 March 2011. You have already received an adjustment to your charges for the period from 1 April 2011 onward. The total additional adjustment granted is £322.81”.

The basis of my claim was exactly as given in my earlier thread. The “evidence” mentioned were copies of a builder’s site plan and a letter from builders to South West Water Authority discussing the surface water drainage arrangements both dated late 1970s and available from local authority planning records.

The ‘clincher’ in this case may have been the recent change in the wording of the OFWAT guidance (to “when a [water] company - might reasonably be expected to have known, that a property or properties were not connected to its sewerage system for surface water drainage”) the implications of which, I believe, are truly significant. All thanks to Cardew for having pointed this out to the forum some time ago.

My next step is to talk to SWW about a figure for interest and costs. And to consider how far-reaching are the implications of finally prizing open this watery can of worms.
I'd rather be a disappointed optimist than a self-satisfied pessimist

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