Lead Replacement Grant Terms and Conditions
GENERAL
(A) United Utilities Water Limited (UU) is a water and waste water undertaker in the North West of England for the purposes of the Water Industry Act 1991, and is supporting the replacement of internal lead pipes within certain of its customer’s domestic properties by providing discretionary contributions towards the costs of replacing such pipes (the “Scheme”) subject to and in accordance with these terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”).
(B) In order for an Applicant (as defined below) to be eligible to participate in the Scheme it must satisfy the eligibility criteria and other requirements contained within these Terms and Conditions and agree to comply with these Terms and Conditions which shall form a legally binding agreement between the Applicant and UU in relation to the Applicant’s participation in the Scheme and the payment and receipt of the Grant.
(C) The operation of the Scheme and payment of any Grants pursuant to it are discretionary matters and so UU reserves the right, at its complete discretion, to amend, withdraw, limit or cancel the Scheme at any time without notice which shall include, without limitation, the right for UU to reduce the value of the Grant available to a new Applicant prior to its acceptance onto the Scheme and /or limit the availability of the Scheme to a certain number of its customers only (such number to be determined by UU).
(D) If a customer is unsure whether they are eligible or not for the Scheme, they can email UU at LCSP@uuplc.co.uk or call UU on 0345 072 6082. Alternatively, UU has a live chat facility available to its customers Monday to Friday 8am-5pm. Click on the orange live chat box on our webpage and one of our advisors will be ready to help.
DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
1.1 Definitions
Except to the extent that the context requires otherwise, capitalised terms used in these Terms and Conditions have the following meanings:
Applicant means the UU customer making the Application
Application means an application made by a UU customer to UU for the replacement of lead pipes at the Property and acceptance onto the Scheme
Grant means the discretionary contribution to be made by UU towards the Applicant’s costs of carrying out the Replacement Works
Property means a domestic property which contains internal and external lead pipes the address of which is detailed the Application
Replacement Works means the works carried out or required to be carried out at the Property to replace the internal lead pipes with non-lead pipework
1.2 Words such as “including” or “for example” shall not be taken to limit the generality of any statement of which they form part.
1.3 References to any legislation shall refer to that law as amended or re-enacted at any time.
ELIGIBILITY
2.1 These Terms and Conditions set out the basis on which UU will provide the Grant to an Applicant.
2.2 In order to be eligible to receive the Grant:
2.2.1 the Applicant must be the registered owner of the Property or, if they are not the registered owner, have obtained the registered owner’s consent to the replacement of the lead pipes (both internal and external) at the Property. Note that it is the Applicant’s responsibility to request consent from the property owner, any applications made without owner consent will be put on hold until the owner contacts UU directly to give consent. The owner can contact UU either by emailing LCSP@uuplc.co.uk or by phoning us on 0345 072 6082; and
2.2.2 the Applicant must be a customer of UU and have an account with UU in respect of the Property of which the Applicant must be the main account holder; and
2.2.3 the Applicant must have made an Application for the replacement of the lead pipes at the Property via UU’s application process which can be found here or by calling 0345 072 6082 and have received emailed confirmation from a UU Lead Replacement Agent that their Application has been accepted and they have been accepted onto the Scheme.
2.3 The value of the Grant available to an Applicant is £550 but UU reserves the right to change (including to reduce or withdraw) this amount at any time prior to an Applicant’s acceptance onto the Scheme. The Grant is a contribution towards the costs incurred by the Applicant in having carried out the Replacement Works only (it is not an advance payment) and so it is not anticipated that this will necessarily cover 100% of the cost of the Replacement Works. All costs of carrying out such Replacement Works must therefore be met by the Applicant.
2.4 Only one Application can be made for a Property and so once an Application has been made and accepted onto the Scheme any subsequent Applications made in relation to the same Property will not be eligible for participation in the Scheme and will be rejected.
2.5 Once an Application has been accepted onto the Scheme if UU has not received evidence in the form required in clause 3.1.2 below that the Replacement Works have been completed within 3 months of the date on which UU notifies the Applicant of its acceptance onto the Scheme then UU shall deem the Applicant to have withdrawn the Application from the Scheme and UU shall not be under any obligation pursuant to these Terms and Conditions or otherwise to pay the Grant to the Applicant if evidence of completion of the Replacement Works is subsequently provided after that 3 month period. Further if the Applicant wishes to continue with its participation in the Scheme after that 3 month period has expired it may be required by UU to make a new Application.
2.6 The Applicant confirms that all information submitted by it in its Application was, is and will continue to be true, complete and accurate (and the Applicant will promptly inform UU if any of that information in any way cease to be true).
PAYMENT OF THE GRANT
3.1 Prior to payment of the Grant to the Applicant:
3.1.1 the Applicant must have met and, where relevant, continue to meet the eligibility criteria set out in clause 2.2 above including having received confirmation from UU that it has been accepted onto the Scheme; and
3.1.2 provide evidence to UU (within the timeframe specified in clause 2.5 above) that the Replacement Works have been completed in compliance with the Water Supply Regulations 1999. Such evidence must be provided either by the Applicant:
(a) sending to UU a copy of WaterSafe's certificate to LCSP@uuplc.co.uk in respect of the Replacement Works which a WaterSafe's approved plumber will be able to provide to the Applicant once they have completed those works; or
(b) if the Replacement Works have not been carried out by a WIAPS approved plumber then UU will need to inspect and approve the new pipework at the Property and the Applicant will need to call 0345 072 6082 to arrange and inspection appointment.
3.2 Once the requirements of clause 3.1 above have been met to the satisfaction of UU then UU will aim to pay the Grant to the Applicant within 14 days in accordance with clause 3.1.4 below.
3.3 Account Credit - if an Applicant's account with UU is in arrears at the tme the Grant is due for payment, UU will credit the Grant to the account to clear such arrears. If there is any excess, the customer can request this to be sent to them via cheque by contacting our billing team. They can be contacted on 0345 672 2888 (for customers who don't have a water meter) or 0345 672 2999 (for customers with a water meter).
3.3.1 BACS Payment – only Applicants who pay their water bill via Direct Debit are able to receive the Grant via BACS. If an Applicant does not currently pay via Direct Debit and would like to know more information please click here. Alternatively, if the Applicant would prefer the Grant to be put onto its UU account as a credit, then it can notify its case owner of this request.
3.3.2 Cheque Payment – if an Applicant pays their water bill by a method other than Direct Debit, they will likely receive their Grant in the post via cheque. Alternatively, if the Applicant would prefer the Grant to be put onto its UU account as a credit, then it can notify its case owner of this request.
3.3.3 Account Credit – if an Applicant’s account with UU is in arrears at the time the Grant is due for payment, UU will apply the Grant (in whole or in part) to the account to clear such arrears before sending the balance (if any) to the Applicant by cheque or BACS as detailed above. For example, if the value of the Grant is £550 and an Applicant’s UU account is £200 in arrears, UU will first clear this arrears using the Grant and send the remaining balance of £350 to the Applicant via BACS or cheque (as detailed above).
3.4 The Grant is inclusive of any tax that may be payable in respect of it. If any tax (such as VAT) may be payable in respect of any amounts received, then the Applicant shall be responsible for accounting for the same at no additional cost to UU.
3.5 The Grant is a contribution made by UU towards the costs incurred by an Applicant in having carried out the Replacement Works and is not intended as payment for work done on behalf of UU. As a result, the Applicant is not obliged to undertake the Replacement Works once it is accepted onto the Scheme and is free to withdraw from the Scheme, but in such circumstances it will not receive payment of the Grant from UU.
USE OF INFORMATION AND DATA PROTECTION
4.1 Where any documents, pictures, data or similar materials are to be provided to UU, the Applicant gives UU the right to use the same (and permit any relevant regulatory authority or other third party to use the same) as reasonably required in connection with these Terms and Conditions and/or the administration of the Scheme and/or the Grant.
4.2 Any personal data provided to UU in relation to the Scheme will be used, stored and otherwise processed in line with UU’s Privacy Policy which can be found here.
4.3 UU takes the use of personal data extremely seriously and so if an Applicant has any queries regarding the use of personal data by UU (or its wider group of companies) the Applicant should not hesitate to contact UU at the following address: United Utilities Water Limited, Lingley Mere Business Park, Lingley Green Avenue, Great Sankey, Warrington WA5 3LP (company number 02366678).
RECOVERY OF THE GRANT
5.1 If after UU has paid all or any part of the Grant to the Applicant, UU has reasonable grounds to consider that the Applicant has not in fact complied in full with the requirements of the Scheme including these Terms and Conditions, then the Applicant shall on demand repay to UU the amount of the Grant (including any amount offset against its account pursuant to clause 3.3.3).
5.2 Where any amount is repayable under clause 5.1, this amount must be repaid to UU and shall be a debt owed to UU. UU may offset this amount against any future amount payable to the Applicant or demand its repayment (in which case the Applicant will do so within 30 days). Any repayment by the Applicant must be made without any offsetting or deduction of any kind.
LIABILITY
6.1 Responsibility for carrying out the Replacement Works remains at all times with the Applicant and so UU accepts no liability in respect of such Replacement Works other than to pay the Grant in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
6.2 UU’s total liability under these Terms and Conditions shall not exceed an amount equal to the value of the Grant. However, nothing in this clause limits UU’s liability under clause 4.2, for fraud, death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or which otherwise cannot be limited at law.
6.3 This clause shall survive termination or expiry of these Terms and Conditions
TERMINATION
7.1 UU may terminate these Terms and Conditions and/or the Applicant’s participation in the Scheme on immediate notice where:
7.1.1 in the opinion of UU, the Applicant has not complied with any part of these Terms and Conditions or any other requirements of UU relating to the Scheme as notified to the Applicant from time to time;
7.1.2 the Applicant fails to repay any sum recoverable by UU in accordance with clause 5;
7.1.3 evidence of the Replacement Works is not provided to UU within 3 months of UU having notified the Applicant that it has been accepted onto the Scheme; or
7.1.4 UU is otherwise compelled by law to terminate these Terms and Conditions.
7.2 Termination or expiry of these Terms and Conditions shall not affect the continuing application of any provision of these Terms and Conditions that is expressly or by implication intended to continue to apply after termination or expiry of these Terms and Conditions.
GENERAL
8.1 Variations to these Terms and Conditions must be in writing, signed by a senior representative of UU and the Applicant.
8.2 Any formal notice issued under these Terms and Conditions to UU must be sent by first class post, recorded delivery or hand delivered to the Company Secretary of UU at its registered office address.
8.3 If any provision of these Terms and Conditions becomes invalid and unenforceable, then the parties shall make the minimum amendment necessary to give effect to the original intention of the clause (which may include removing the offending article).
8.4 The Applicant may not transfer its rights or obligations under these Terms and Conditions to any person without the prior written consent of UU, at its absolute discretion.
8.5 These Terms and Conditions and any documents referred to in them represents the complete agreement between the parties in relation to its subject matter.
8.6 These Terms and Conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law, and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.