The Company Secretary
Messrs United Utilities PLC
Haweswater House
Lingley Mere Business Park
Great Sankey
Warrington
WA5 3LP 

Dear Sir

Please be advised that we are instructed by the above named, whose house was rendered uninhabitable by the catastrophic flooding which inundated Cockermouth on 19th November 2009.

Cockermouth is built at the confluence of two rivers, The Cocker, fed by Crummock Water and Buttermere, and the Derwent, fed by Derwent Water/Bassenthwaite and by the rivers Glenderamackin/Greta, which are in turn fed by a tributary, St John’s Beck, which is the outflow from Thirlmere Reservoir.

Moreover, the late autumn was characterised by an unusual (but not atypical) weather pattern whereby warm, moist air was being drawn up to the North West of England from The Azores; upon reaching the Cumbrian Coast and rising over the mountains the air cooled, and dropped moisture in the form of substantial precipitation. The weather pattern was well established and extremely heavy rain, indeed of the magnitude that fell on 19th November 2009, was therefore both entirely foreseeable and indeed forecast some days beforehand.

Despite this, as you have informed the Allerdale MP, Tony Cunningham the water level in the reservoir had been so high that it had been overflowing the spillway from 27th October 2009. Worse, on the day of the inundation of Keswick and West Cumbria, you have told him that the main abstraction from the reservoir into the aqueduct supplying Manchester was “closed off to protect drinking water and public health of a population of 500,000 people supplied by the reservoir”.

Mr Cunningham continues:

“At the time the abstraction was closed (United Utilities) estimate that 220 million litres of water per day, equating to no more than 5% of the total volume of water, was added to the water already going over the spillway. This was after the level in the reservoir had “already started to subside””.

Whilst this is not a formal Letter of Claim, it is notification that the management of the water resources at Thirlmere and elsewhere is under close examination, with a view to proceedings being commenced for compensation.

We invite you to make a pre-action disclosure as anticipated by Section 33 Supreme Court Act 1981 as follows:

1. Details of the First Inspection of the Reservoir pursuant to Section 26 (1) of the Reservoirs Act 1975 (“The Act”) and all subsequent inspections thereafter.

2. A copy of any engineer’s certificate and any recommendations made as to measures to be taken in the interests  of safety under Section 26 (3) of The Act

3. A copy of any certificate given pursuant to Section 8, of The Act together with any recommendations made thereafter

4. A copy of the Flood Plan prepared pursuant to Section 12 A of the Act

5. All reports and recommendations made by the Supervising Engineer under Section 12 of The Act

6. The maintenance and repair records for the three years commencing 20th November 2006 for the abstraction pumps and aqueduct

7. Information as to the time the pumps were switched off on 19th November 2009 and the reason for the switch off

8. Water level records for the period 27th October 2009 to 20th November 2009 as required to be kept by Section 11 of the Act

9. Details of the means by which the Reservoir level was “dropped” on 19th November 2009” despite continued, very heavy rain and the closure of pumps

We invite this information voluntarily but notify you of our intention to apply under Section 33 (supra) if it is not supplied.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully
K J COMMONS & CO

On the link below you will find a simple registration form.

Please complete it. Your registration will be acknowledged.

You may find on this website, a letter written to United Utilities requesting certain documentation by clicking here.

A response has been recieved from United Utilities which can be viewed in full here by clicking here. We have also responded with another letter which you view by clicking here.

By registering with the Group, you are under no obligation and you will be kept informed of the response from United Utilities and of any developments in the case. Registration does not constitute any form of retainer with K. J. Commons & Co.

Having made our investigations and if we are of the opinion that there is a case to answer, we will contact you formally and invite you to participate. Whether you do, or not, is entirely a matter for you, and the purpose of this website is purely by way of assistance to those in the locality who have suffered as a result of the flooding

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