South West Water Leak Allowance: How to Claim

Reviewed by the DCI Leak Detection team · Last updated June 2026

A hidden leak on the pipe that feeds your home can quietly add hundreds of litres a day to your meter, and your bill follows. South West Water runs a leak allowance scheme for exactly this. It refunds the cost of the water you lost, provided the leak was on a pipe you're responsible for and you've had it fixed. This guide explains who qualifies, how the allowance is calculated, how to apply, and the parts most homeowners get caught out by.

What is a South West Water leak allowance?

A leak allowance is a credit South West Water applies to a metered bill to cover the water wasted by a leak. As South West Water puts it, if you're on a water meter and have had a leak on your private supply pipe, they "may be able to help towards the cost of the wasted water." Once the leak is repaired, you apply, and they calculate a reduction so you're not paying for water that ran into the ground rather than through your taps.

It matters because a buried supply-pipe leak can be invisible for weeks. The first sign is usually the bill, not a puddle. The allowance exists to stop a fault you couldn't see turning into a charge you didn't use. It is separate from South West Water's help towards the cost of the repair itself, though the two are often claimed together. We cover that further down.

Who qualifies, and the supply-pipe rule

Two conditions do most of the work here. You need to be a metered customer (an allowance credits metered usage, so there's nothing to adjust on an unmetered bill), and the leak needs to be on your private supply pipe.

That second point trips people up, so it's worth being clear about who owns what. The Consumer Council for Water sums up the boundary plainly: "The supply pipe from your house to the boundary of your property … is your responsibility." South West Water looks after the communication pipe and the main on the public side; everything from the boundary into your home is yours. Because a supply-pipe leak registers on your meter, it's the one the allowance is built around.

If your supply is shared with neighbours, the picture changes and you'll need South West Water to confirm how a shared-pipe leak is treated. And if South West Water themselves flagged the leak to you, our guide on what to do when South West Water says you have a leak walks through the notice, your responsibilities and the immediate steps.

How the allowance is calculated

The calculation rests on your meter. South West Water advises customers to "take regular meter readings before and after the leak is repaired, as we'll use them as reference." In practice, the company compares the usage recorded while the leak was running against your normal pattern of use, then credits the difference. That difference is the excess the leak accounted for, rather than your household.

That's why two readings are gold dust:

• A reading around the time the leak was active or first suspected, to show the inflated usage.
• A reading after the repair, to show usage has dropped back to normal. The Consumer Council for Water suggests taking a follow-up reading about 14 days after the repair so there's a clear "before and after" to measure against.

You don't have to do the maths yourself. That's South West Water's job once you submit the form. But the more accurate your readings, the cleaner and faster the assessment. If you never noticed the leak until the bill landed, don't panic: they can still work from the readings they hold and the ones you provide after the fix.

Help towards the repair: £100 and £250

The allowance refunds the wasted water. Separately, South West Water also helps homeowners with the cost of putting the leak right. There are two distinct offers, and it's worth knowing which is which:

• Up to £100 towards a repair. Paid once the leak is confirmed repaired, and capped to one payment per leaky pipe.
• A £250 subsidy to replace the supply pipe. Offered where you replace the leaking pipe rather than patch it, and the replacement is done within 30 days.

Both are for homeowners (not tenants or, in most cases, landlords claiming for a let property), and both are claimed by sending South West Water your receipts or invoice after the work. Note the 30-day clock on the £250 replacement: it runs from when the leak is identified, so don't sit on it. These figures and conditions come from South West Water's own help with leaks pages. Always confirm the current amounts on their site, as water-company schemes are reviewed periodically.

How to apply for a South West Water leak allowance, step by step

1. Take a meter reading. If you can, note your reading as soon as you suspect a leak. It captures the inflated usage you'll be claiming back.
2. Get the leak repaired. Have the supply-pipe leak fixed (or the pipe replaced). Keep every receipt and invoice, as you'll need them for the £100 or £250 contribution.
3. Take a second reading after the repair. Wait a couple of weeks so the post-repair usage clearly shows the leak has stopped.
4. Complete the leak allowance application form. South West Water lets you "complete our leak allowance application form and send it to us so that we can calculate any reduction, or complete the online form on My Account."
5. Submit your repair receipts to claim the contribution. Send the invoice or receipts by post or email so they can pay the £100 repair help or £250 replacement subsidy.
6. Wait for the credit. South West Water works out the reduction from your readings and applies it to your account. Keep copies of everything you send.

Act promptly. The published 30-day window applies to the repair and replacement contributions; for the bill allowance itself, South West Water doesn't state a fixed deadline on its pages, so the safest approach is to apply as soon as the leak is fixed and confirm timescales with them directly rather than risk leaving it too long.

What isn't covered

A few things sit outside the scheme, and knowing them up front saves a rejected claim:

• Deliberate damage. No allowance is given where the pipework was damaged on purpose.
• The water company's own pipes. A leak on South West Water's side of the boundary is their responsibility to fix, and won't have shown on your meter in the same way.
• Internal fittings and appliances. A dripping tap, a running overflow or a faulty appliance is a maintenance issue, not a supply-pipe leak. Check directly with South West Water how it's treated.
• Repeat claims on the same pipe. A leak allowance is generally a one-off gesture rather than something you can claim again and again for the same supply pipe, and the £100 repair contribution is explicitly capped to one payment per leaky pipe.

If the bill spiked but no obvious leak ever turned up, the cause may be elsewhere. Our guides on a high water bill with no visible leak and why your water bill has suddenly doubled help you narrow it down before you assume the worst.

Finding the leak in Cornwall & Devon

One detail underpins the whole process: you have to find and fix the leak before any allowance is paid. On a buried supply pipe that's easier said than done, which is where we come in. Across Cornwall and Devon we pinpoint hidden leaks using non-invasive professional water leak detection (thermal imaging, acoustic sensors and tracer gas), so the pipe is located precisely before anyone starts digging.

For leaks on the run between your boundary and the house, our underground leak detection traces the exact spot, keeping disruption (and your repair bill) to a minimum. We can also document the find, which helps when you submit your South West Water leak allowance application and your repair receipts.

Frequently asked questions