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Disconnections
Disconnections are always a last resort for water companies. Water suppliers in England and Wales have had the legal power to disconnect customers who have not paid their bills since 1945. In Scotland and Northern Ireland disconnection is illegal. However the number of households that have been disconnected because of unpaid bills has been steadily declining since 1989/90. Nevertheless over 3,000 households had their water supply cut off in 1996/7. There are significant differences between disconnection rates for different companies. South West Water has a policy of not disconnecting any domestic customers, Wessex Water maintains the right to disconnect but did not actually cut off any households in the year 1996/7, while Severn Trent, which does have a greater number of customers, disconnected 457 households. A recent court judgement ruled against companies installing pay as you go meters, which cut off the supply if the money ran out.
Disconnections by company, 1996/7
|
no of household diconnections |
rate per 10,000 households |
| Anglian |
72 |
0 |
| B'mouth & W Hampshire |
14 |
1 |
| Bristol |
100 |
2 |
| Cambridge |
33 |
3 |
| Chester |
8 |
2 |
| Cholderton |
0 |
0 |
| Dwr Cymru |
81 |
1 |
| Essex&Suffolk |
14 |
0 |
| Folkestone |
15 |
2 |
| Hartlepool |
27 |
8 |
| Mid Kent |
208 |
11 |
| Mid Southern |
0 |
0 |
| N.Surrey |
17 |
1 |
| N.West |
410 |
2 |
| Northumbrian |
66 |
1 |
| Portsmouth |
464 |
18 |
| Severn Trent |
457 |
2 |
| S.East |
0 |
0 |
| S.Staffordshire |
108 |
2 |
| South West |
0 |
0 |
| Southern |
34 |
0 |
| Sutton & E Surrey |
73 |
3 |
| Tendring Hundred |
40 |
7 |
| Thames |
213 |
1 |
| Three Valleys |
314 |
3 |
| Wessex |
0 |
0 |
| Wrexham |
18 |
3 |
| York |
34 |
5 |
| Yorkshire |
348 |
2 |
Source: Ofwat
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