Severn Trent Connect
Guaranteed Standards Scheme
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Guaranteed Standards Scheme
1.0 Introduction
This document provides information about our Guaranteed Standards Scheme. We are
committed to delivering an excellent service to all of our customers 24/7, 365 days a year.
We back this up with our service guarantees and will make a payment to you if we fail to
meet the required standard. The scheme applies to our household customers. Non-
household customers who may be entitled to receive a payment in line with the Guaranteed
Standards of Service should contact their retailer for further information on this.
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2.0 Customer contacts
Guaranteed service standard
Payment to
you if we do
not meet the
standard
Payment
to you if
we fail
to pay
on time
Times when we won’t pay
Making and keeping
written/telephone
appointments
If you need an appointment
with us, we promise to:
1. Offer you an a.m. or p.m.
appointment or, if you request
it, an appointment within a two-
hour time-slot.
2. Give you 24 hours’ notice if
we need to cancel an
appointment that we have
made with you.
3. Keep all non-cancelled
appointments that we make
with you.
If we do not meet these
promises you may be entitled to
a payment.
£50 within 10
working days
£30
When the appointment is
not in connection with the
supply of sewerage
services.
If you cancel the
appointment, or if we
cancel with more than 24
hours’ notice.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial action
or the action of a third
party).
Responding to written account
queries
If you write to us to query the
accuracy of your bill, we will
provide you with a response
within five working days of
receiving your letter.
If we take longer than 5 working
days; you may qualify for a
payment
£30 within 10
working days
£30
If you do not want to
continue with the enquiry.
If the enquiry is sent to
the wrong company
address.
If the query is frivolous.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial action
or the action of a third
party).
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Responding to written
enquiries about our Special
Assistance services
If you write to us to enquire
about our Special Assistance
Service, we will provide you
with a response within five
working days of receiving your
letter.
If we take longer than 5 working
days; you may qualify for a
payment
£30
£30
If you do not want to
continue with the enquiry.
If the enquiry is sent to
the wrong company
address.
If the query is frivolous.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial action
or the action of a third
party).
Responding to enquiries about
your wastewater services
If you write to us with a query
about your wastewater
services, we will provide you
with a response within ten
working days of receiving your
letter.
If we take longer than 10
working days; you may qualify
for a payment.
£30 within 10
days
£30
If you do not want to
continue with the enquiry.
If the enquiry is sent to
the wrong company
address.
If the query is frivolous.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial action
or the action of a third
party).
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Responding to written requests
to change payment method
If you ask us to change your
payment method and we
cannot meet your request, we
will let you know why within
five working days of receiving
your letter.
If we take longer than 5 working
days; you may qualify for a
payment.
£30 within 10
working days
£30
If you do not want to
continue with the enquiry.
If the enquiry is sent to
the wrong company
address.
If the query is frivolous.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial action
or the action of a third
party).
Responding to written
complaints
If you make a written complaint
about our wastewater services,
we will respond within 10
working days of receiving your
letter.
If we take longer than 10
working days; you may qualify
for a payment.
£30 within 10
days
£30
If you do not want to
continue with the
complaint.
If the enquiry is sent to
the wrong company
address.
If the query is frivolous.
In exceptional
circumstances (severe
weather, industrial
action or the action of a
third party).
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3.0 External sewer flooding
Guaranteed service standard
Payment to you
if we do not
meet the
standard
Payment to
you if we fail to
pay on time
Times when we
won’t pay
Dealing with external sewer
flooding
If you are affected by external
flooding, you may be entitled to
a payment.
If you need to report a flooding
problem, please call our
Customer Service Centre on
0345 450 9549.
A payment that
is equal to 50%
of your annual
sewerage
charges up to a
maximum of
£500 (minimum
£75) for each
flooding
incident within
20 days.
£30
If your actions
have caused the
problem.
If your private
drains or sewers
are inadequate.
In exceptional
circumstances
(severe weather
or industrial
action).
If it is impractical
to identify you as
being affected and
you don’t claim
within three
months of the
incident.
If you are not
materially
affected.
If we have already
made a payment
for internal
flooding for the
same incident.
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4.0 Internal sewer flooding
Payment to you
if we do not
meet the
standard
Payment to
you if we fail
to pay on time
Times when we
won’t pay
flooding
In rare circumstances some
properties suffer from internal
flooding from our sewers. If it is
our fault you will be entitled to
a payment.
If you need to report a flooding
problem, please call our
Customer Service Centre on
0345 450 9549.
A payment that
is equal to your
annual
sewerage
charges up to a
maximum of
£1,000
(minimum
£150) for each
flooding
incident within
20 days.
£50
If it is impractical
to identify you as
being affected and
you don’t claim
within three
months of the
incident.
If your actions
have caused the
problem.
If your private
drains or sewers
are inadequate.
In exceptional
circumstances
(severe weather
or industrial
action)
5.0 Making payments to you
If we are aware that we have caused a problem, we will make service guarantee payments to
you automatically within 10 working days. The payment will either be credited to your
wastewater services account or refunded to you. If we fail to do this, we will make an
additional penalty payment as detailed in the relevant GSS category above. We will pay
automatically if we know that there has been a problem. If you think that you should have
received a payment, please contact us on 0345 450 9549 because we may not know about it.
Please do this within three months of the problem occurring.
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6.0 Meeting your individual needs
We need to know if you have individual needs so please contact us so that we can add you to
our register. This will give you access to the following services:
• Correspondence in large print, Braille, electronic or audio formats
• Bill reading service
• Textphone service
• Confidential password to help identify our staff who may call at your door
• Special meter reading arrangements
7.0 Bogus callers
Unfortunately, there are an increasing number of incidents involving bogus callers. These
are people who impersonate utility staff (such as your water company) to gain entry and
access to your home. For more information about this contact your local police service. If a
Severn Trent Connect employee or one of our contractors asks to come into your home,
they will show you a valid identification card, their name and a photograph. You can check
their identity by calling 0345 450 9549 and we will confirm if they are genuine. Do not call
any other number they give you or accept any excuses. If you are in any doubt, do not let
them in. In an effort to combat bogus callers we operate a doorstep password protection
scheme which is available to all customers. Please contact us for more information or to set
up this facility.
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8.0 Who regulates the service we provide?
Ofwat
Ofwat is the economic regulator of the industry whose statutory duties include protecting
customers’ interests. Ofwat has the power to restrict the increases we can make in our
charges, set the levels of service we must provide and stipulate the information we must give
to you.
You can contact Ofwat at:
OFWAT
Centre City Tower
7 Hill Street
Birmingham
B5 4UA
Tel: 0121 644 7500
Website: www.ofwat.gov.uk
The Environment Agency (EA)
The EA is responsible for controlling the pollution of rivers, draining land, controlling floods
and issuing fishing licences. The EA regulates our return of the water to rivers after it has been
used and treated.
The Environment Agency
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham S60 1BY
Tel: 0370 850 6506
Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environment-agency
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9.0 If you are not happy with the service you have received
We know that if something goes wrong, you want us to resolve it quickly and accurately. Our
contact centre advisors are the best people to do this. They’ll be able to explain what’s
happened and what we’ll do to resolve the problem. If you decide to make a complaint we’ll
follow our complaints procedure which ensures that you’re treated fairly. There are four
stages to the procedure which are explained in this section.
Stage 1
If there is any part of our service that you are not happy with please contact us straight away
so that we can understand what the problem is and make sure it is resolved to your
satisfaction. You can either call our Customer Service Centre on 0345 450 9549 or email us at
customer@severntrentconnect.com .
Our contact centre is manned by specialist staff trained in a particular area of our business.
This makes sure that you get to speak to someone who has the best experience to deal with
your issue or complaint. If you aren’t completely satisfied after speaking to an advisor, our
Duty Managers are always available. They will be happy to help you by continuing the call or
arranging to call you back at a convenient time.
Stage 2
If your problem is not fully resolved and you have to contact us again about the same issue,
your complaint will be escalated to a Senior Manager for resolution. We will investigate what
has happened to understand why you have had to contact us again and ensure you are fully
satisfied with the outcome.
Stage 3
If you feel that we have still not been able to resolve your query then you can refer the matter
to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), the independent customer body for the Water
industry, to investigate your complaint. CCW’s primary functions are:
• to provide advice and represent consumers on water matters and sewerage
• to investigate and handle complaints made against licensed water suppliers or
companies in England and Wales
• to take up consumers’ complaints if they have tried and failed to resolve issues with their
water companies
• to make sure that the voice of consumers’ is heard and that consumers remain at the
heart of the water industry
You can contact CCW at:
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Consumer Council for Water
1st Floor Victoria Square House,
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4AJ
Tel: 0300 034 2222
Website: www.ccwater.org.uk
Stage 4
On very rare occasions, a complaint may remain unresolved after it has gone through all the
stages of our and the Consumer Council for Water’s complaints procedures. At this point, you
are able to take your concerns to the Water Industry Redress Scheme (WATRS), who can
provide an independent binding decision. You can contact WATRS at:
WATRS
70 Fleet Street
London
EC4Y 1EU
Tel: 0207 520 3801
Email: info@watrs.org
Website: www.watrs.org
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10.0 Contact us
You can contact us at:
Severn Trent Connect
Severn Trent Centre
2 St John’s Street
Coventry
CV1 2LZ
Tel: 0345 450 9549
Email: Customer@severntrentconnect.com
Website: www.st-connect.co.uk
Severn Trent Services (Water and Sewerage) Ltd (T/A Severn Trent Connect)
Registered in England No. 8880470
Registered Office: Severn Trent Centre, 2 St John's Street, Coventry, CV1 2LZ