RPC issues letters before action in new water class action competition claim

On 20 December 2024 RPC and proposed class representative Professor Carolyn Roberts took the first step in launching a new opt-out competition collective action claim by serving proposed defendants Severn Trent, Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Thames Water, Northumbrian Water and Anglian Water with letters before action.

The new claim will aim to secure compensation for non-household customers who, Professor Roberts alleges, have been overcharged on their water bills as a result of the proposed defendants’ infringement of competition laws through the under-reporting of sewage spills. 

The proposed class will be made up of as many as one million non-household customers, including businesses, charities and local government, with damages of up to £510 million being sought.

The new non-household claim will be the second collective action by RPC and Professor Roberts against these six English water and sewerage companies, following the ongoing household claim brought against the same companies. The household claim was heard before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the CAT) in September 2024 at a Collective Proceedings Order hearing, for which a decision is awaited.

Given the very high degree of overlap between the two sets of proceedings, Professor Roberts will ask the CAT to case manage and hear the non-household claims alongside the household claims.

Both claims are backed by leading litigation funder, Bench Walk Advisors.

Professor Roberts said: “Like the household claim, this case will challenge the behaviour of some of the country's biggest sewerage companies and hopefully force them to change their practices, while also securing compensation for thousands of non-household consumers. Building on the excellent and detailed work in the ongoing household class action, we are now at a stage where, together, we can take the first steps to launch this new claim.”

Zoe Mernick-Levene, Partner at RPC who is leading both cases said: “We are delighted to continue our work tackling the anti-competitive practices of England's biggest sewerage companies with Professor Roberts. For too long, these monopoly sewerage companies have been under-reporting the true number of sewage spills to their regulators, which has resulted in higher prices to customers and in doing so, breaking competition law. That is why, in addition to already bringing claims on behalf of household customers, we now are seeking compensation for the over one million businesses, charities and local government who we believe have been overcharged on their water bills in the same way."