Thames among British water and sewerage firms slapped with new class action
Water and sewerage companies, including Thames Water, are set to be hit with a new class action after law firm RPC issued a formal letter notifying of the legal proceedings.
The law firm issued letters before action on its opt-out competition collective action to Severn Trent, United Utilities, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, Northumbrian Water and Anglian Water.
The new claim alleges that non-household customers have been overcharged on their water bills as a result of each water company’s infringement of competition laws through the under-reporting of sewage spills.
This claim is said to be made up of as many as one million non-household customers, which includes businesses, charities and local government, with damages of up to £510m being sought.
This is the second class action against these six English water and sewerage companies.
Another lawsuit was launched to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last year on behalf of household customers by partner Zoё Mernick-Levene, who at that time, was at law firm Leigh Day.
That case was at a collective proceedings order hearing back in September, for which a decision is pending by the Tribunal.
The law firm has revealed that as there is a “very high degree of overlap between the two sets of proceedings”, it will ask the Tribunal to manage and hear both the household and non-household claims alongside each other.
Both claims are led by Mernick-Levene, who joined RPC last June, with professor Carolyn Roberts acting as class representative and funded by Bench Walk Advisors.
Commenting on the new legal move, Mernick-Levene said: “For too long, these monopoly sewerage companies have been under-reporting the true number of sewage spills to their regulators, which has resulted in higher prices to customers and in doing so, breaking competition law.”
That is why, in addition to already bringing claims on behalf of household customers, we now are seeking compensation for the over one million businesses, charities and local government who we believe have been overcharged on their water bills in the same way,” she added.
Last year, Ofwat opened enforcement cases into all water companies in England and Wales for the mismanagement of their networks and treatment.
It was revealed in research by Thorndon Partners last October that an “overwhelming” amount of the public supports water companies being sued for financial damages.
In the same month a landmark judgment was handed down by the Supreme Court ruling that a canal company can bring a civil lawsuit against listed water company United Utilities over the discharge of sewage.