London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Water company gave man 'home sweet home' card after burst pipe made him to move

A gas engineer has branded a water company ‘insensitive’ after they gave him a card saying ‘welcome to your new home’ after their burst water main flooded his old flat.
Nik Ross, 46, lost £7,000 of his possessions in the flood, which left his ground-floor flat submerged last month. He was forced to leave the property, in Canterbury, Kent, and stay at two hotels before finally being rehoused by South East Water.

The water main burst close to the junction between Whistable Road and University Road at around 4.30 pm on August 11, and left 10 homes without running taps while murky liquid gushed down the street.

It was the second time Mr Ross and his partner Georgina had suffered a burst water main in the same spot. He said: ‘It’s happened to us again, except worse. Last year was unfortunate – but this year they’ve got no excuse.

‘The figure is close to £7,000 of lost items and property, including £697 of locksmith equipment.

‘I’ve lost two days’ work and I’m having to turn certain locksmith jobs down because I haven’t got my equipment.’

Mr Ross received the postcard from South East Water over the weekend. The front of the card is emblazoned with the words ‘home sweet home’ and the back reads: ‘I just wanted to send you a quick note to say congratulations on your new home and I do hope everything has gone smoothly.’

He: ‘My partner’s reaction was to laugh at first because you’d think they’d have a note on our account to say not to send this.

‘I also had a laugh until I read it and saw it said “welcome to your new home”, then the red mist started to descend.

‘While we’ve got somewhere to go, it just doesn’t feel like home. Is this a genuine mistake, a poor attempt at humour or are they taking the mick? For a start that’s extremely insensitive. Is it a good idea to send this particular customer a welcome home postcard?’

Jenny Rhodes, of South East Water, apologised for the card, stating that it was a ‘genuine mistake.’

She said: ‘Usually, when a customer moves into a new home we provide them with all the necessary information about South East Water and, as a courtesy, congratulate them on moving in with a card.

‘Unfortunately, it wasn’t spotted that one of the new accounts was following the flooding and sending this was a genuine mistake on our part for which we are very sorry.’

Ms Rhodes also confirmed that the firm had investigated a report of a leak in the surrounding area but said no evidence was found.

She said: ‘There was not enough water to sample and we had no further reports following our initial investigation. We’re also aware of reports that water was pumped through the pipe too quickly, causing it to burst.

‘This is not true and water was being pumped within our normal operating parameters.’
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×