15 November 2007
Southern Water has been hit with a £20 million fine from regulators Ofwat, due to poor customer service and its misreporting of bills.
The firm admitted yesterday to having misled customers over a period of seven years, resulting in severe overcharging for its services.
Households supplied by Southern Water paid on average £10.50 a year more than they should have, Ofwat said.
The watchdog's findings follow an investigation carried out in conjunction with the Serious Fraud Office and analysts at KPMG.
Southern Water said in a statement that a total of £500,000 has been repaid to "disadvantaged" customers.
Chief Executive Les Dawson added: “We committed a terrible crime. The fine hurts but it should do."
Tim Wolfenden, Head of Home Services at uSwitch, commented: "The priority here is to ensure that consumers are fully recompensed and Ofwat does seem to have this well in hand.
"This £20.3 million fine [should be] invested directly into improving our worn out water systems - this would serve everybody’s interests best."
Southern Water currently supplies almost 2 million Sussex households with sewerage services and water supplies.
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