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Leakage advice for business customers

If you suspect you have a leak on your property and need help locating it you can click the links below to get started. If you do discover a leak on your property then follow our steps below to learn more about applying for a leakage allowance.

Use your water meter to check for leaks

Don't know where you're leak is located? Find out how to test if you have a leak and where it's located.

Self-help leak test

Common indoor leaks

Click the button below for advice on how to spot leaks inside your property

Leaking supply pipes

Think you have a leaking supply pipe? We'll walk you through how to test for a leak and what to do next

Claim back the leakage cost

If you’re unlucky enough to discover a leak please read through our leak allowance policy

How we're tackling leaks

Read more about how we're tackling leaks across the North West

Responsibility

United Utilities owns all mains and communication pipework leading to the property boundary. Any pipework leading to the property, including sections of the supply pipe inside the property boundary, are the responsibility of the customer. 

You can read more about pipework responsibility in RWG's guidance booklet.

If you suspect you have a leak, i.e. you receive an abnormally high bill, you should contact your water Retailer for advice and assistance on next steps.

Leakage allowance

If you're unlucky enough to discover a leak on your property we allow you to claim back the cost of the water lost from the leak (up to 6 years, exemptions may apply).

Are you eligible to claim an allowance?

You will only be eligible to make a claim if:

  • You apply within 12 months of the repair[1]
    AND
  • You have not already made a claim for the same property in the past 2 years[2]
    AND
  • You have repaired the leak within 30 days of discovering it

We can't grant an allowance if:

  • The leak was caused by you, your landlord, your Retailer or a third party's negligence

To make a claim for a leakage allowance you should contact your water retailer who will pass along your claim to us.

Please make sure you provide to your retailer;

  • The reason for the allowance request
  • What happened to the water leaked (soaked away into the ground or entered mains drainage)
  • What caused the leak (e.g. Third party damage, asset deterioration, burst pipe / fitting etc.)
  • The date of the repair
  • Two meter readings taken after the repair
  • If the leak took longer than 30 days to repair, the reason for the delay
  • Any additional evidence of the leak repair to support your claim, e.g. a sketch showing the location of the leak, a copy of the repair bill, photos

[1] The customer shall not be penalized for delay in burst claims submitted by the retailer, as long as the customer has acted responsibly and within the parameters of the burst claim policy. Retailers should be forthcoming in highlighting their delay in sending a claim to United Utilities in these instances and refunds shall be limited to 16 months (the last settlement run or “RF”) from the date the market data is updated by UUW.

[2] We allow 1 leak per customer per property every 24 months. Further sewerage allowance is considered where it is demonstrated that water did not return to our sewers.

You can read more about our leakage policy here.

Important notice

Heavy rainfall and sewer flooding

The heavy rainfall may be causing flooding in some parts of the region.

Our teams are out working hard across the region helping our customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their homes.

If you’re experiencing flooding from a road or footpath and there is no evidence of sewage (toilet paper etc.) please report this to your local council, who are responsible for highways drainage flooding.

Please be aware that our phone lines are much busier than normal, take a look at our flooding page for further advice on what to do if you’re affected by flooding.

Heavy rainfall across the North West may be causing flooding in some parts of the region. Our teams are out working hard across the region helping our customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their homes.

Flooding advice

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