The process you should follow if you (or your organisation) are affected by activities carried out by a water company, such as a property developer or landowner, is explained here.

1. Contact your company

• If you have a complaint, you should first contact the water company concerned. This gives them the chance to put things right. It also ensures that the company is aware of the problem you are experiencing.
• The company should deal with your complaint using its complaints procedure. This procedure explains the process the company must follow in handling your complaint. Complaint procedures are approved by us. You can ask the company for a free copy of its complaints procedure.

2. If you are not satisfied with the company’s response

• If you are not satisfied with the initial response from the company’s staff, you should tell the company.
• Someone more senior in the company who has not previously been involved with your complaint will review the response.

3. Ask us to investigate

• If you are still not happy with the company’s response, you will need to ask us to investigate.
• You will need to tell us why you are not happy with the company’s response and how you want the matter sorted out. If possible, send any papers relating to your complaint.

We normally give the water company the opportunity to sort it out before we intervene. A number of particular types of complaints are dealt with by us, rather than by the water company. You can find out about these in the section that covers complaints we handle.