More than 300,000 customers who had to boil their water after the cryptosporidium parasite was discovered in United Utilities water network will start to receive cheques in compensation in the post from today.

 The payments – ranging from £50 to £60 depending on when the advice to boil water was lifted – have been set following discussions with the customer champion, the Consumer Council for Water.

 Gary Dixon, customer services director for United Utilities, said:

 "We are now starting to compensate those customers who have had the boil water notice lifted. We recognise that our customers have been significantly inconvenienced over the last few weeks and they rightly deserve to be compensated. The payment reflects that inconvenience and takes into account the additional cost for boiling the water and a refund for water services over the period."

 “In coming to the right number we have consulted with the Consumer Council for Water. We are grateful for our customers’ cooperation and patience over the last few weeks.”

The company said it would take until the end of September to ensure all customers affected had received their cheques, due to the scale of the operation.

In addition to also receiving the automatic compensation payment, businesses that incurred extra costs or loss of earnings as a direct result of the boil water notice will also be able to apply for additional compensation. Business customers who incurred extra unavoidable costs or losses  will receive a separate letter on how to claim. 

Gary Dixon added that United Utilities will review these on a case by case basis which will take longer but will aim to deal with each as quickly and fairly as possible.

 Supplies started to return to normal on Thursday 27 August and since then more than two-thirds of households and businesses have had their boil water notice now lifted.

Water watchdog welcomes swift payment of compensation to customers in Lancashire

The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) has welcomed the swift payment of compensation to over 300,000 United Utilities customers who have been affected by the boil water notice in Lancashire.

CCWater has been in negotiations with United Utilities to ensure its response to compensating customers is fair and reflects the considerable disruption that has been caused to people’s lives since August 6.

Andy White, Senior Policy Manager at the Consumer Council for Water, said:

“Customers have suffered considerable disruption so we are pleased United Utilities is acting swiftly to compensate every customer.

“We believe the quick automatic payment will ensure most customers are not ‘out of pocket’ and are compensated for the disruption they have suffered. As is always the case, we would expect United Utilities to look sympathetically upon any situation where a customer has suffered extra losses.”