WIREDGOV

• Investigation will consider whether South East Water has complied with its obligation to provide high standards of customer service and support for its customers
• First investigation Ofwat has launched on customer-focused licence condition
• Repeated outages in Kent and Sussex since November have caused widespread disruption for households and businesses

Ofwat has today opened an investigation into South East Water following a series of supply interruptions which have seen thousands of households and businesses in Kent and Sussex lose their water supply.

The investigation will look at whether, and how, the company has complied with its customer-focused licence condition, which is in place to ensure that companies provide appropriate support to their customers when things go wrong, including during supply interruption incidents.

Tunbridge Wells suffered a sustained outage in November and December 2025. There have been further supply problems at the start of January 2026, caused by freeze-thaw events following the cold snap, and further issues with Storm Goretti causing outages which has led to more than 30,000 homes losing supply intermittently.

Lynn Parker, Ofwat Senior Director for Enforcement, said:

“The last six weeks have been miserable for businesses and households across Kent and Sussex with repeated supply problems. We know that this has had a huge impact on all parts of daily life and hurt businesses, particularly in the run up to the festive period. That is why we need to investigate and to determine whether the company has breached its licence condition.”

Ofwat already has an open investigation into South East Water’s supply resilience to determine whether it has failed to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system. This is ongoing.

Further information

• Licence Condition G requires companies to have and implement policies and approaches to meet the principles for customer care. These principles include aspects relevant to incidents, including proactive communications, support for customers when things go wrong and to help put things right; and appropriate support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.
• Ofwat’s separate investigation into South East Water’s supply resilience is examining whether South East Water has met its principal duty under Section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to ensure all such arrangements have been made for providing supplies of water to premises and to act in a manner which is best calculated to ensure that it has in place adequate resources and systems of planning and control to enable it to carry out its functions as required by Licence Condition P12. It does not cover Licence Condition G because it was not in force during the relevant period of that investigation. Further information is available on our website.
• The customer licence condition gives Ofwat powers to act against a water company which fails to provide appropriate support to its customers. If we are satisfied that a company has breached a condition of its licence we must take enforcement action to secure compliance. In addition, we can impose a fine on the company of up to 10% of the company’s turnover.
• Opening an investigation does not imply that Ofwat will conclude that there has been a breach or that it will impose a financial penalty. To protect the integrity of the process, Ofwat will not be able to discuss the specifics of the case until the investigation has concluded.
• The Drinking Water Inspectorate confirmed on 4 December and on 13 January that it is investigating particular outages in South East Water’s area for those regulations it enforces. The Inspectorate is the regulator for public water supplies and checks that companies supply drinking water that is safe and compliant with legislation.