Water customers can now receive up to £2,000 compensation payments for serious service failures.
Customers can get double reimbursement from water company customers when their basic water services are hit.
Under Government plans launched today, water companies who fail to provide notice of supply interruptions or companies who miss arranged appointments with customers will be forced to make double payments to customers who complain.
Currently, all customers are entitled to £20 compensation when their provider fails to restore their water supply, plus £10 for every 24-hour period in which it is not restored.
This would increase to £50, with an additional £50 every 12 hours.
But under new proposals, compensation payments will rise to a £40 minimum.
Under new proposals, compensation payments will rise to a £40 minimum
PA
Serious issues, such as low water pressure, could bring payments of £250, while maximum payment for internal flooding from sewers will rise from £1,000 to £2,000.
The compensation rises would be the first in nearly 25 years.
The new proposals set out by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will double payments for all existing standards and will more than double the payments for certain highly disruptive incidents, such as failing to provide notice of supply interruptions and missing arranged appointments with customers.
The government will also expand the list of circumstances that can trigger compensation, including automatic payments for boil notices when drinking water standards drop, or when water companies fail to conduct meter readings or installations as promised.
A boil notice means customers must boil their water before they drink it, cook with it, or brush their teeth.
The changes would mean that recent outages in Brixham and Bramley earlier this year would have automatically led to compensation for all customers, where there was no entitlement before.
This will put fair and transparent customer service at the heart of water company dealings when basic services are compromised.
Reed said: “Our water industry is broken. After years of failure, households and businesses have been let down by water companies time and time again.
“The new government will clean up the water industry and turn the tide on the destruction of our waterways ensuring water companies protect the interests of their customers and the environment.”
The proposals are subject to an eight-week consultation.
A Water UK spokesman said: “We share the government’s ambition to reform an out-of-date system and look forward to seeing the details of these proposals.
“In the meantime, we are focused on delivering our largest-ever investment plan to secure our water supplies, end sewage in rivers and enable economic growth.”