‘Majority’ of UU crypto payments made

United Utilities (UU) has completed the majority of its compensation payments following Lancashire's cryptosporidium contamination, although a "minority" of outstanding business claims still need to be resolved.

Initial estimates put the compensation costs for the 300,000 customers that faced a boil water notice between £15 million and £20 million. But in early September, UU confirmed that the final compensation and one-off cost bill was expected to be higher than originally anticipated, at £25 million.

A UU spokesperson told Utility Week that the majority of payments have now been made.

“This includes all automatic payments made to domestic and business customers, and the majority of business claims have also been settled,” the spokesman said.

The firm had hoped to have completed the entire pay-out by the end of September, but says outstanding claims are “awaiting more paperwork or information from the businesses to allow it to process the payments”.

The East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said it “hadn’t had any particular concerns expressed by any of its members” regarding the issue.

The traces of cryptosporidium were discovered on 6 August and the boil water notice was placed across parts of Lancashire.

UU installed UV rigs across its water network to destroy the last remaining traces of the parasite on 20 August, as well as flushing its distribution system and moving water from other parts of the network.

Following this, the company was able to start lifting the boil water notice it had put in place to customers in parts of Lancashire from 27 August.

UU could now be subject to a parliamentary inquiry as well as an investigation from the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which could result in a fine.