Killingworth Road - wall repair

Hi everyone

As I mentioned yesterday - we have sent a letter out today and I've enclosed a copy below. Please get in touch if I can help with anything.

Thanks

Rachel

Our Ref: Killingworth Road

14 August 2020

Dear Customer

Burst Water Main - Killingworth Road

Firstly I would like to apologise formally, on behalf of Northumbrian Water, for the disruption and inconvenience caused by the two recent flooding events you have experienced.

It is always regretted when incidents like this occur and to have it happen twice in quick succession is particularly difficult to deal with.  As you know, we have reacted to both incidents very quickly and have had both our water main repair crews and our incident recovery company, DryRight, on site dealing with the repairs and clean-up etc.  We appreciate that putting things right quickly when they go wrong is important and we are working really hard to do this, as well as to fully understand what has happened.

You should already be aware that our representative, Chris Cowley, from Sedgwicks  has also been on site to discuss any issues and claims you may have.  I hope that between DryRight and Chris they have addressed all of your concerns, but I would invite you to contact me directly - or go back to Chris - if there are any outstanding questions or concerns; we want to ensure we can address them fully and share information that gives reassurance.

We have strict liability for any damage caused as a direct result of the flood and are responsible for compensating for this damage either in the form of remedial work or financial recompense. I understand that this may have already been explained to you but thought it would be helpful for you to have this confirmed officially, in writing, from Northumbrian Water.   

With regard to any claim, you have the option of claiming from your own property or vehicle insurer or making a claim directly to Northumbrian Water. The choice is entirely yours to make but if you decide to go via your own insurers we will deal directly with them and also be responsible for any excesses that you have on the policies.  

Whilst the damage to the properties in the area was thankfully relatively small, that cannot be said for the back lane and retaining wall that backs onto the river. The repair work needed is quite major and our specialist team will be looking at the options for that in the coming days. 

Our first priority for the moment is to prevent any further damage to the back lane area by opening up the flow down the river and installing a temporary structure to direct any flows away from the damaged area.  This work is currently under way and should be completed in the next few days.  Again, we have a specialist team managing this to ensure it is done in the best and most effective way.

Going forward, my team (via Chris Cowley) will be dealing with the many issues regarding claims.  We acknowledge that there may also be further queries about wider points and the remedial works we are completing, so we have appointed a dedicated point of contact and we have also set up a community portal where we will share information. This can be accessed by the following link https://nwlcommunityportal.co.uk/Projects and then follow the Killingworth Road burst main project. Rachel Nelson, our Lead Customer Care Manager, will be your point of contact for non-insurance related matters; Rachel can be reached on 07710 801976 or by email, rachel.nelson@nwl.co.uk

Once again, I am sorry that this problem occurred and please be assured that we will work as quickly as we can to get things back to normal.

Yours faithfully

George Arnott

George Arnott

Insurance Claims Manager