Water company faces £35.8m fine

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

The proposed penalty - which equates to 3% of the company's turnover - is for misreporting customer service data during 2005 and earlier years, as well as "substandard" service.

Severn's actions resulted in customers paying higher bills than they should have done, Ofwat said.

The regulator said the company's shareholders would bear the entire cost of the proposed penalty. "It cannot be passed onto its customers," Ofwat said.

Severn said it was lowering bills by £2.40 per household to ensure it had not profited from the episode.

It is the largest fine by value, but not in percentage of turnover, levied by Ofwat. Earlier this year Southern Water was fined 3.6% of turnover, or £20.3 million, for similar offences.

The latest matters relate to a period before the appointment of the current management team. Severn Trent has 3.7 million household and business customers in England and Wales.

In a separate case of misreported data, Severn Trent said it would plead guilty to two offences relating to leakage figures supplied to Ofwat in 2001 and 2002. The pleas are due to be entered at City of London Magistrates' Court.

Concerning the customer service data failings, the regulator said Severn had deliberately misrepresented its performance on measures such as the number of customers who had received no replies to complaints, and those who had received late responses to bills.

The company's behaviour was "unacceptable" and had amounted to "deception", Ofwat said.