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Six English water companies accused of overcharging customers by up to £1.5bn

Six water companies in England have been accused of overcharging customers between £800mn and £1.5bn by under-reporting the full scale of their sewage pollution, in a case that could pave the way for bill payers to receive hundreds of millions of pounds in refunds. In a competition appeals tribunal on Monday, lawyers for Carolyn Roberts, a former professor and environmental consultant, accused the privatised companies of abusing their monopoly position to mislead regulators over the amount of sewage they were discharging into rivers since 2015. Read more

How you could get money back on water bills as firms sued for £1.5bn

Six of the UK’s biggest water companies have been taken to court this week in a case that could see them pay £1.5bn in compensation to their customers.

The firms have been accused of under-reporting the number of raw sewage discharges they have made into waterways, allowing them to charge customers more than they would had they reported an accurate number. Read more

BBC: Water bills: Fight for money back over sewage leaks begins

The UK’s six biggest water firms are facing legal action over claims they underreported pollution and overcharged customers.

Severn Trent is the first in line, with claims against the other firms expected in the coming months.

A law firm says it could result in customers on average receiving £40 each, but the process could take years and there is no guarantee of success. Read more

PRESS RELEASES

Landmark class action claim targets wastewater companies

Law firm Leigh Day plans to file the UK’s first-ever “environmental” collective action against several wastewater companies accused of breaching the country’s antitrust rules, a week after an economic consultancy urged the country’s competition authority to open a probe based on the same allegations. Read more