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Case ref:201801684
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Date:March 2019
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Body:Scottish Water
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Sector:Water
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Outcome:Not upheld, no recommendations
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Subject:sewer flooding - external
Summary
Mr C complained that a sewer located behind his property routinely flooded, damaging his garden. Mr C said that Scottish Water had not taken reasonable steps to fix this and that they had not responded properly to his complaints.
Scottish Water said that they had responded to all the incidents of flooding but the problem was more widespread than Mr C's property and it had taken considerable investigation to identify the cause and possible solutions. Scottish Water also said that they had provided increasing levels of support to Mr C as the severity of the problem became apparent.
We found that Scottish Water had acted reasonably in investigating the flooding incidents and supporting Mr C. They had carried out extensive works to repair any damage and they had increased the level of support to Mr C as the complexity of the problem became apparent.
In relation to complaint handling, we found that Scottish Water should have referred Mr C to the complaints process earlier than they did. However, it was clear that Scottish Water had taken steps to improve their responses to him and the way they handled complaints. Therefore, we did not uphold either of Mr C's complaints.