Does it cost anything to apply to South West?

No. Applying is free. A drainage survey costs a few hundred pounds and is almost never needed, because South West checks its own records first and will look at the property itself if it is unsure.

What if South West turns me down?

Complain to South West first and let it run through both stages. If that gets nowhere, the Consumer Council for Water handles complaints for free. For a binding decision the route since 14 May 2026 is the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman, which took over dispute resolution for the water industry when the previous service was stopped on 24 April 2026.

Rainwater drainage · South West

The South West Water surface water drainage rebate

South West Water bills you for taking rain off your roof and driveway into the public sewer. If your rainwater goes into a soakaway, a ditch or a stream instead, you are paying for a service you do not get, and South West will stop charging you for it.

South West does not publish an online rebate form. You start this by calling them.

What you stop paying

£33.26

a year, metered or not

Backdated

Back to 1 April 2014

a fixed date, worth about 12 years now

Cost to apply

Nothing

no firm needs to be involved

What South West charges in 2026-27

£33.26 a year. How it is worked out: difference between the two sewerage tariffs.

The figure is £33.27 in the band for homes with a rateable value up to £50, and £33.26 everywhere else, metered or not.

The rebate here is a tariff switch, not a credit line on the bill. You move from the tariff that includes surface water to the one that covers foul and highway drainage only.

How far back South West will refund

Back to 1 April 2014, or the date you first became liable for sewerage charges if that is later. It is a fixed date rather than a rolling window, which makes it the most generous backdating of any company here.

Nothing obliges South West to refund anything beyond the current charging year. The regulator leaves the decision to each company, so what you read above is a policy rather than a right, and it can change. The one thing the regulator does expect is that a company which already knew your home was not connected should refund from the point it knew.

What South West asks you to send

South West checks its own records first and will visit the property to look at the drainage if it needs to.

Before you spend money on a drainage survey, apply and see what happens. Companies check their own sewer records first, and several will send someone to look at the property at their own cost. A survey costs a few hundred pounds, which is several years of the charge itself.

How to claim it from South West

Walk round the outside and follow each downpipe. One that ends at ground level near the wall is a soakaway. One that runs across the garden into a manhole is a sewer connection
Check the drainage plan from when you bought the place, if you have one
Call South West, since there is no online form, and ask for the foul and highway drainage tariff
Send exactly what they ask for, and nothing extra. The section above has their own wording
Ask in writing for the refund to be backdated as well as the charge stopped. Companies sometimes do only the second half
Keep a copy of the date you applied, because the backdating is measured from it

If South West says no

Run the complaint through both of South West’s own stages first. If it is still unresolved, the Consumer Council for Water will take it up for free. That step gives you a free, independent review rather than a binding ruling.

For a decision the company has to follow, the route changed this year. The consumer body was told to stop running its own dispute service on 24 April 2026, and on 14 May 2026 the industry appointed the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman in its place. That service is free, and it is an interim arrangement until the government sets up a statutory water ombudsman.

Common questions

How much is the South West Water surface water drainage charge?: £33.26 a year, read from South West Water’s own household charges scheme for 2026-27. How it is worked out: difference between the two sewerage tariffs. That is the amount you stop paying if your home turns out not to drain to a public sewer.
How far back will South West backdate the rebate?: Back to 1 April 2014, or the date you first became liable for sewerage charges if that is later. It is a fixed date rather than a rolling window, which makes it the most generous backdating of any company here. No rule forces this. The regulator leaves the length of any refund to each company, so the answer is South West’s policy rather than your entitlement.
What evidence does South West want?: South West checks its own records first and will visit the property to look at the drainage if it needs to.
Does it cost anything to apply to South West?: No. Applying is free. A drainage survey costs a few hundred pounds and is almost never needed, because South West checks its own records first and will look at the property itself if it is unsure.
What if South West turns me down?: Complain to South West first and let it run through both stages. If that gets nowhere, the Consumer Council for Water handles complaints for free. For a binding decision the route since 14 May 2026 is the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman, which took over dispute resolution for the water industry when the previous service was stopped on 24 April 2026.

This is one of about a dozen things households overpay quietly

Rainwater drainage is the sort of charge nobody reads because it sits inside a bill that arrives whether you read it or not. Untap walks through the others in the same afternoon: council tax banding, unclaimed tax relief, deposits that were never protected. Free, and we never take a share of what you get back.

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Other water companies

See every company in one table, and how the rebate works

Charges are for the 2026-27 charging year, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, and come from South West Water’s own household charges scheme. Backdating and evidence wording comes from the same document. Companies republish these every April, so the scheme is always the final word. Untap helps people in the UK find money they are already owed. We do not apply on your behalf and we do not take a share of anything you get back.