Storm compensation explained for power and water outages - see if you're due £80

23 January 2024 , 13:51

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Storm Jocelyn is set to hit the UK today (Image: PA)

It is estimated that around 7,000 homes were without electricity earlier this week, in the wake of Storm Isha.

And now, Storm Jocelyn is set to cause more chaos in the UK today - but what are your rights when it comes to compensation payments? The Met Office has issued amber and yellow weather warnings for wind covering much of the UK.

Alongside this, yellow warnings for rain have been issued for parts of western and southern Scotland and northwest England. Thankfully, you can claim money back if you've experienced a power outage or disruption to water supplies.

Here is a round up of compensation payments you may be able to claim if you are impacted by a storm.

Energy outages

Storm Isha saw thousands of UK residents lose power and it could potentially happen again with Storm Jocelyn today. If your power is knocked out by a storm you can claim money under National Grid and Ofgem rules.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

If you live in England, Wales or Scotland and your power outage is down to a Category One storm, you're entitled to £80 if the supply isn't restored after 24 hours. For a Category Two storm, you are entitled to a compensation payment of £80 if you have no power after 48 hours. After that, you should receive £40 for every six hours you don't have electricity, up to a maximum of £2,000.

If the power was cut off due to bad weather, Citizens Advice says an electricity network operator should pay you in a reasonable amount of time. If you haven't been paid within four weeks of the power being back on, you should contact them to make a claim. You must claim within three months for an unplanned cut - unless you are on the Priority Services Register where there is no time limit

Water outages

Water companies can also pay compensation if your water supply is out due to bad weather. However, it is not that simple.

If you're left without water and it isn't restored by the time the company says it will be, you're usually entitled to compensation of £20 for the first 24 hours. You should then get an extra £10 for each further 24-hour period you're left without running water. If you don’t get sent this compensation within 20 working days, you can claim a further £20.

However, there are some circumstances when your water company doesn't have to pay compensation and includes severe weather which prevented them from meeting their standards or their staff are striking.

However, it is still worth having a look at as water company Anglian Water compensated more than 3,000 residents in Ipswitch after their water supply was cut off by Storm Babet back in October. Compensation was being paid as water pressure had dropped in homes in the area for "a long period of time" after one of its water treatment works was flooded by the heavy rain.

Broadband and landline outages

Broadband and landline customers can also get money back from their provider following outages through the Automatic Compensation Scheme. If your broadband stops working then you simply need to report it to your provider to receive compensation as it is automatic. Your broadband provider should be in touch with you directly if you are entitled to compensation and it should be issued as a credit on your bill no later than 30 days after the issue occurred.

You should receive £9.33 if the service is still down two full working days after you report it, and then £9.33 for each day afterwards.

The scheme applies to the following providers:

BT
EE
Hyperoptic
Plusnet
Sky and NOW Broadband
TalkTalk
Utility Warehouse
Virgin Media
Vodafone
Zen Internet

Again, some exceptions do apply to the automatic compensation scheme and this is when the problem is caused by an event beyond a customer’s or the provider’s control and this includes "extreme weather". However, if your connection broadband or landline connection continues to remain disrupted after the storm, you could potentially claim compensation payments.