Southern Water rebate: Who will get a rebate? How much money will customers get back? When and how will rebates be paid? Will customers have to pay for £3m Ofwat fine?

This is how much Southern Water customers can expect to get back, after the customer was investigated by Ofwat. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

WASTEWATER customers of Southern Water will get a rebate on their bills after the company was hit with a fine by Ofwat for poor management of its sewage treatment.

A report today highlighted ‘significant’ breaches of the company’s licence conditions and statutory duties between 2010 and 2017.

This included employees’ ‘widespread and deliberate’ measures to ‘hide’ the true performance of its wastewater treatment works by manipulating sewage samples.

As a result of the findings, Southern Water will now pay a £3m fine agreed with Ofwat – as well as £123m in customer bill rebates over the next five years, in place of an additional financial penalty.

Here’s what you need to know:

Who will get a rebate?

Anyone who pays Southern Water for its wastewater services will get a rebate. This includes everyone in Portsmouth.

How much money will Southern Water customers get back?

In total, Southern Water's wastewater customers should receive at least £61 in rebates when rollout begins.

The company said this is based on 2017-18 prices and could increase as it is subject to inflation.

When will the rebates be paid?

Customers are expected to get their first rebate of at least £17 in 2021.

Annual rebates with then follow for the next four years and are estimated to be at least £11.

How will the rebates be paid?

The rebates will be factored into bills. They will not be one-off payments to customers.

Will customers have to pay more because Southern Water has been fined?

Southern Water has said its customers will ‘bear none of the cost’ of the fines.

The company’s bills are expected to fall by five per cent between 2020 and 2025.