This page is a summary of the key findings from our customer care review of how water and wastewater companies in England and Wales supported customers affected by sewer flooding in 2024-25.
Flooding from sewage is hugely distressing for customers that experience it. It is among the worst service failures they can experience.
In our customer review we set out 10 outcomes we intend water and wastewater companies to achieve to improve customers experiences during sewer flooding incidents. These intended outcomes will inform our development of formal guidance to companies which will set out the customer care they must deliver in future.
Click below to find out more about:
- key findings of our sewer flooding customer care review
- the impact of sewer flooding on customers
- why we carried out our customer care review
- how did our customer customer care review
- next steps
Download ‘Sewer flooding customer care review’ full report
You can download a full copy of report here: ‘Sewer flooding customer care report’ (PDF)
If you have any questions about our review, please contact us at [email protected].
Page last updated: 12 February 2026
Key findings of our sewer flooding customer care review
We identified 10 outcomes that all water and wastewater companies should achieve for customers experiencing sewer flooding.
We set these out under the following intended outcomes below.
- Communications
- Providing appropriate support for customers when things go wrong and helping to put things right
- Understanding the needs of customers and providing appropriate support
- Learning and improving
We expect companies to report on progress in delivering these improvements through their annual performance reports – and we intend to develop guidance to companies on the high quality services customers should expect.
Intended outcomes: Communications |
Customers will receive the right information at the right time before, during and after sewer flooding incidents occur. Companies will have clear and appropriate communications policies with which to achieve this. These may include, for example:
|
Intended outcomes: Providing appropriate support for customers when things go wrong and helping to put things right |
| Customers who experience sewer flooding will get the right support as quickly as is reasonably possible and will be informed how long it will take, and kept updated of any changes. To facilitate this, companies will have robust plans in place to ensure that average response times meet stretching but achievable targets. |
| When customers experience repeat sewer flooding, they will be consistently supported through to the end of their customer journey through a single point of contact. Field operatives and call handlers will be able to identify repeat incidents at the point of logging the incident, for example through an automated repeat incident register, and provide appropriate advice and support. |
| Customers that experience internal and/or external sewer flooding will get a clean up which aims to restore their property to a suitable and liveable condition and is proportionate to the impact. Customers will be clearly informed of what they can be expect, and companies will deliver on this. Companies across the sector will have a clear and consistent approach to enable this. |
| Customers will be assured that companies take the impact of sewer flooding seriously. To achieve this, companies will ensure effective governance structures are in place to oversee their policies and approaches, including clear accountability for the customer experience during sewer flooding. This includes how the company responds and resolves incidents from the customer perspective. There should be regular executive oversight of repeat sewer flooding incidents, taking into consideration the impact and experience of the customer. |
| Customers will be made aware of the Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) and, for external sewer flooding, how to apply to receive a payment, and this process will be as simple as possible. Companies will be proactive in informing customers of their entitlement to GSS and making payments in line with the GSS regulations. |
| Customers will be made aware of the financial support that is available to them and how to access it. To facilitate this, companies will provide clear guidance to staff on when and how any voluntary payments are made. |
Intended outcomes – Understanding the needs of customers and providing appropriate support |
| Customers who experience sewer flooding will be assigned a dedicated case handler (or receive support from a dedicated case management team) from the point that the incident is logged, and where possible companies should strive to maintain consistent case handlers for repeat customers. Case handlers will provide support and timely updates through the full customer journey, be trained to identify and support customers who need extra help and signpost customers to relevant organisations. |
| Customers who need extra help and experience sewer flooding will receive an inclusive service, in line with ‘Service for All’ vulnerability guidance and the commitments that companies made in their vulnerability strategies. |
Intended outcomes: Learning and improving |
Customers will be assured that companies are continuously improving their policies and approaches for sewer flooding. Companies will learn from past performance and customer experiences and identify opportunities to enhance service delivery. Companies should be able to demonstrate how customer feedback is informing future business decisions. These include:
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The impact of sewer flooding on customers
Flooding from sewage is hugely distressing for customers that experience it. It is among the worst service failures they can experience.
Sewer flooding disrupts daily life in immediate and practical ways: homes can become unusable, essential rooms are out of action, and work and caring responsibilities are put on hold while families wait for clean-up and repairs. The impact intensifies for households facing repeat incidents, where uncertainty about if — or when — it will happen again creates ongoing stress and fatigue.
For people who need extra help – for example, those with mobility or health conditions -even short delays can be acute, as access routes and essential facilities are compromised. All these suggest that sewer flooding is not only an environmental or operational incident; it disrupts safety, dignity and stability in the place where people should feel most secure — their home.
It is important therefore that companies consider the customer throughout the management of sewer flooding incidents, and continue to learn and improve in order to minimise the impact on the customer.
- Findings from our customers’ experiences of sewer flooding joint research with CCW in May 2022 showed that many customers feel invisible as they go through the sewer flooding customer journey, particularly when updates are unclear or inconsistent, and when they must repeatedly chase progress or explain their situation to different teams. The financial impacts of sewer flooding can also add up quickly at a time when households are already under pressure.
- We repeated our joint research with customers who had experienced sewer flooding in their homes or gardens in November 2024. We found some improvements in the support companies provide since we reviewed this in 2022. However, we also reported that much more was needed if all customers are to receive adequate support and resolutions. In particular, those who experienced multiple incidents of flooding felt left behind and forgotten. They shared experiences of emotional stress, sleepless nights, worries about health impacts from exposure to sewage, and financial consequences that include not being able to sell their homes and an increase in insurance premiums that they cannot afford. The report set out a series of actions for companies to take to address this.
Why we carried out our customer care review
In February 2024, we introduced a new condition into all companies’ licences, Condition G Principles for Customer Care (Condition G). Condition G requires companies to have in place and follow policies and approaches that meet six key principles for customer care, including:
- ensure their customers are well-informed and supported during and after incidents and this includes sewer flooding;
- be proactive in communications so that customers received the right information at the right time;
- demonstrate continual improvement to prevent foreseeable harm;
- provide appropriate support to customers including during and following incidents; and
- tailor their support for customers who need extra help.
Following on from our customers research findings in November 2024, we decided to assess the extent to which wastewater companies applied the above principles of customer care to the journeys of customers who had experienced sewer flooding during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
Condition G applies to all companies, however we are focusing on the performance of wastewater companies in this report as they are responsible for providing customer care relating to sewer flooding incidents.
How we did our customer care review
In March 2025, we asked wastewater companies to provide us with information about the care and support they provided to their customers who experienced sewer flooding incidents during the review period.
We limited our request to activities, including policies and approaches, they had in place within that period to manage sewer flooding. We also considered wider information available, including our own and CCW’s and CCW’s findings in its End Sewer Flooding Misery Campaign document.
We approached the assessment through the lens of the customer journey, considering the key activities – communications, response and support, and putting things right – which a company can undertake to support good customer service through the management of a sewer flooding incident.
We found that the following.
- Responses to our March RFI – There was a wide variety in company responses in terms of quality and content of submissions, and this reflects the variation in how companies respond to sewer flooding incidents.
- Data – Companies define and record customer service data, for example on response times and repeat customers, during sewer flooding incidents differently. This made it difficult for us to understand in detail the level of service provided to customers who experience sewer flooding across the sector.
- Communications – All companies have in place communications around sewer flooding on their websites, including contact details, logging an issue, and the causes and responsibilities around sewer flooding incidents. Whilst this an area companies have improved in recent years, we have concerns about how companies adapt and scale up their communications for large and / or complex incidents.
- Customer support – There are examples of good and poor practices when it comes to supporting customers during sewer flooding incidents, with response times varying significantly across the sector, as does the handling of repeat incidents and case management.
- Putting things right – In relation to executive oversight companies engage senior leaders in the performance and management of sewer flooding, but this often focuses on the operational activities with little evidence of senior leaders considering the customer impact. In addition, in relation to learning and improving, there was little evidence of companies using customer experience and insight to inform future business practices and deliver improved outcomes for customers.
Our next steps
We expect companies to make improvements in the way they treat customers when sewer flooding occurs.
We will work with all companies to drive improvements to ensure not only they are compliant with Condition G, but that they continue to deliver improvements in the service and support they provide to customers during sewer flooding incidents.
In line with this, we will develop guidance under Condition G to deliver the improvements and outcomes we have set out in our review. We will work with customers that have experienced sewer flooding, customer representatives, the UK and Welsh Governments, water and wastewater companies and other stakeholders.
Having formal guidance in place will provide greater clarity for our expectations on companies, and we will take this guidance into consideration in monitoring compliance with Condition G in future.