Scottish Water helping customers in Berwickshire to claim compensation
Scottish Water customers affected by the recent disruption to their water supplies are being urged to apply for compensation.
A fault at Rawburn Water Treatment Works (WTW) near Duns on August 26 affected normal supplies to up to 6000 properties across many parts of Berwickshire, causing loss of water supply, low pressure or intermittent supply and significant disruption and inconvenience.
Scottish Water last week wrote a letter of apology to all affected properties outlining the compensation they might be entitled to.
However, to date the uptake has been slow with only a small percentage of those affected submitting a claim and now the utility company is making a proactive move to help customers make their claims.
The areas affected included Duns, Eccles, Coldingham, Chirnside, Paxton, Coldstream, Burnmouth, Lamberton, Drone Hill, Birgham, Whitsome, Swinton and Leitholm.
As a follow-up to the letter, Scottish Water staff will be visiting door-to-door in the affected areas from Thursday, September 18 to Sunday, September 28 to inform them that they can claim compensation for the disruption to their supply and to help them submit a claim.
The company will be reminding customers that they can apply for compensation using the instructions in their letter or by visiting www.scottishwater.co.uk/RawburnClaim. It will also have a Scottish Water customer information unit at a number of sites, with staff who can help customers submit a claim. The mobile unit will be open between 9am and 7pm on the specified days.
These locations and dates are:
• Car park opposite Berwickshire High School, Duns TD11 3QQ on Thursday and Friday, September 18 and 19
• Swinton Primary School, Coldstream Road, Swinton TD11 3JE on Saturday, September 20
• Main Street, Leitholm TD12 4JN (near The Plough Inn) on Sunday, September 21
• Truck Stop, Hillview, Guards Road Industrial Estate, Coldstream TD12 4ED on Thursday, September 25
• Foulden Jubilee Memorial, Burnbank, Foulden TD15 1UJ on Friday, September 26
• Paxton Village Hall, Paxton South Mains TD15 1TE on Saturday, September 27
• A1 Upper Burnmouth, Greystonelees, Burnmouth TD14 5SL on Sunday, September 28.
Kevin Roy, Scottish Water’s general manager for customer excellence and resilience, said: “We've informed all affected customers of the compensation they might be entitled to and how they can submit a claim to us.
“But only a small number have contacted us so far so we are asking those who haven’t yet to check the letter, get in touch with us, and submit their claim as soon as possible.
“And we are going that extra mile by deploying more than 30 staff to work in these locations across the affected parts of Berwickshire between September 18 and 28 to help them submit compensation claims and so enable us to process their claim and ensure customers are properly compensated for the inconvenience.
“If we miss anyone on our door-to-door calls they can still apply for compensation using the instructions on the letter, going online or by visiting our customer information units. Our dedicated staff will be very happy to help them.”
Scottish Water’s letter informed affected customers that, under the company’s Code of Practice, if the water supply is interrupted for more than 12 hours due to an unplanned interruption they might be able to claim a payment.
The company added that, due to the inconvenience caused – and by way of an apology for the disruption – it is offering a payment of £45 which equates to £30 for the first 12 hours and a further £15 for the additional 12 hours of interruption to supply.
To receive this payment, customers are asked to contact Scottish Water via [email protected] or www.scottishwater.co.uk/RawburnClaim on the company’s portal and to follow the instructions in the letter.
When speaking to customers at their doors or at the information points, Scottish Water staff will also be encouraging vulnerable customers to sign up to its Priority Service Register (PSR) so they receive additional appropriate support that might be required in the future and to encourage all customers to sign-up for Text Alert Service for alerts about any issues in the future.
They urge all customers to check the identity of staff who call at their property and would stress that Scottish Water will not ask for the customer’s bank details – if someone asks for a customer’s bank details they are not a representative of Scottish Water and the householder should report this.