The actual case was against Thames Water. The potential cost that Thames Water could incur because of this ruling could reach about £1bn, which is over three times the profit that it earned in 2000/2001. It would also have knock-on implications for other water companies throughout the UK, as they would become more vulnerable to similar claims.

The plaintiff was a man from Stanmore, which is in Middlesex in North London. Sewage had flooded the man’s property since 1992. The original High Court decision had made the water companies and other statutory sewerage undertakers liable for the compensation of all those in England and Wales whose homes had been affected by sewage flooding. Steps would also have to be taken in order to carry out alleviation schemes for sewage flooding with no regard to cost. This is good news for those people who live in flood-risk areas, because with the chances that risks will be shared between the insurance companies and the water suppliers, it gives them a chance to be able to get home insurance.

Movement on this has already began, with some insurance companies allowing over 250,000 homes that had been previously excluded back onto the list of homes that are insurable. This followed a review of flood risk and defences. This particularly helps thousands of homes in Greater Manchester and parts of the north west, as well as Southampton, Portsmouth, North London and Herefordshire. The original decision to exclude homes with an unaddressed flood risk had been taken to allow the insurance companies that did so to bring their premiums down. The insurance companies undertook analysis, which concentrated on areas where flood defences had been built or strengthened in the years preceding their decision.