Concerns have been raised over how Anglian Water applied its rules to frustrated locals in a Norfolk town left without water during a major leak.
The burst water main left thousands in Dereham without water during the first heatwave of the year in May.
George Freeman, MP for Mid Norfolk, has written to the chief executive of Anglian Water following a major water outage, which occurred over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.
His letter demands the company compensate people left without water during the outage.
The disruption was caused by a burst main and subsequent pump failure on Girling Road, leaving around 1,757 properties without water or with very low pressure during a period of extreme heat.
Mr Freeman said he shares Norfolk county councillor Alison Webb's "serious concerns" about the handling of the incident and the decision not to compensate most of those affected.
While Anglian Water has issued an apology and acknowledged failings in its response, the company has stated that most customers do not qualify for compensation under its current scheme.
Only those on the Tier 1 Priority Service are currently eligible to receive a £100 payment.
Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian Water previously said: "Our records indicate that the customers concerned were not without a water supply for more than 12 consecutive hours and, as such, did not meet the qualifying criteria for compensation under the scheme.
"In addition, bottled water payments under GSS only apply where no alternative supply is provided after the qualifying period."
Mr Freeman has questioned how the 12-hour qualifying period is calculated in situations where water is briefly restored before failing again.
He said the company’s interpretation of restored supply appearing only at the property boundary, rather than at the tap, "does not reflect the experience described to me" by residents.
Mr Freeman has called for a review of Anglian Water’s decision not to compensate the majority of affected customers and has requested a meeting to discuss the matter further.
He also asked the company to set out changes to improve its Priority Serviced Register and emergency response procedures.
Anglian Water has admitted several failings in its response, including bottled water deliveries falling "significantly below" expected levels, communications not being updated when deployment was cancelled, and only one of the households raising the issue with the company had been on the priority serviced register in advance.
Councillor Alison Webb, who represents Dereham North and Scarning at Norfolk County Council, has also challenged Anglian Water’s stance on compensation.
She previously said: "I am now working on a further response from myself in which I will be challenging his position not to pay our residents compensation.
"I am angry that his reasoning, in my opinion, is incorrect."
During the incident, Anglian Water arranged bottled water deliveries through Water Direct, prioritising customers on the Priority Services Register and care homes.
However, Mr Thurston acknowledged that deliveries were cancelled before all affected customers had received water, as supplies were believed to be returning to normal.
The disruption left many residents without water during the first serious heatwave of the year, with temperatures soaring above 30C.
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