How to complain about a cancellation charge

The big exception is work you asked to have started during the cooling-off period. If the firm began the job at your request and gave you the required cancellation information, you will have to pay a part of the agreed price, depending on how much was completed when you asked to cancel¹. If the installer began work during the cooling-off period without your approval, you are owed a full refund of all costs¹.

When a cancellation charge can be charged

The rules split into two situations. For a contract made on the business's own premises, there is no cooling-off period, and the firm may ask you to pay a cancellation fee and any loss of profit caused by your cancellation¹. For a contract made away from those premises, the Consumer Contracts Regulations give you the right to cancel at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason and without incurring any liability, except under limited provisions of the regulations⁶.

If you cancel after work has started, the firm may ask you to pay for labour costs up until the time you cancelled, any items installed that cannot be removed without damage, the return of delivered items, and loss of profit¹. The same principle appears in consumer code cancellation forms: reasonable payment may be due for any work carried out⁷. In energy supply, the same idea appears as exit fees: if you leave a fixed rate tariff early, you are normally charged a cancellation fee⁸.

The cancellation period begins when the contract is entered into⁶, so the clock starts on the day you sign or click, not on the day work starts.

When a cancellation charge may not be fair

A charge is open to challenge in several situations. The clearest is work started without your approval during the cooling-off period, where a full refund is owed¹. The regulations also treat their cancellation terms as included in the contract, so a firm cannot contract out of them⁹. Where digital content is supplied, the consumer bears no cost if consent to early supply was not properly given and acknowledged¹⁰.

If the service you received does not conform to the contract, the Consumer Rights Act gives you the right to require repeat performance and the right to a price reduction¹¹, which is a different route from cancelling but can support a refusal to pay a charge. Where you were misled or pressured into buying, a refund can be claimed on a different basis: where the item or service cost £5,000 or more and you paid more than the going market price with clear evidence, the refund is the difference between what you paid and what it should have been worth¹².

You must also have been informed of your cancellation rights before completing the purchase, and online orders must be supplied with a cancellation form². A firm that never told you about cancellation rights is on weak ground charging you for using them.

The complaint route, step by step

1. Cancel or complain in writing. Cancellation should be communicated in writing or by email⁷, and the same applies to a complaint about a charge. A template letter for cancelling a service arranged online, over the phone or by mail order is available from Citizens Advice¹³.
2. Give the firm time to respond. Inform the installer of the complaint as soon as possible and give them at least 10 working days to resolve it before contacting the consumer code³.
3. Take it to the consumer code or ombudsman. If the firm belongs to a code, follow its complaints process. For energy suppliers, you must raise a complaint with the supplier first; if the issue is not resolved after eight weeks, or you receive a deadlock letter, you can go to the Energy Ombudsman free of charge⁴. One supplier's dispute pages confirm the same eight-week waiting period before an ombudsman case can be opened¹⁴.
4. For grant-funded work, use the scheme's route. Complaints about an ECO installation go through the scheme's complaints process page¹⁵, and complaints about Ofgem's administration of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme go to feedback@ofgem.gov.uk¹⁶.

Reform is also under way: in June 2026 Parliament was told the complaints process is being shortened and automatic referral to the ombudsman made easier¹⁷.

Details your complaint letter should cover

A complaint is only as strong as its evidence. The Installation Assurance Authority asks that complaints clearly specify the nature of the complaint and include photographs, copies of any existing correspondence, full contact details, and the name and registration number of the IAA registered business involved¹⁸. That list works for any firm:

• The date and method of the contract: online, by phone, at your home or on the firm's premises
• When and how you cancelled, with proof of postage or the email
• What work, if any, had started, and whether you approved it
• The charge you are disputing and the amount
• What you want: a refund, a reduced charge or the charge withdrawn
• Your contact details and the firm's registration details

State plainly that you are cancelling under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, as the standard template does: "Under the above Regulations, I would like to cancel the contract."¹³

Trading standards and other routes when there is no ombudsman

Not every installer belongs to an ombudsman or consumer code. Trading standards covers all businesses, and in Wales the position is set out in official guidance: you have the right to cancel most distance and off-premises contracts and the cancellation period is 14 days¹⁹, with the same rule stated in local authority guidance for problems with services²⁰. Trading standards can investigate a firm's practices, not just your individual dispute.

Some trade bodies run their own alternative dispute resolution. The CIGA arbitration scheme for cavity insulation claims bases the price to lodge a complaint at £25 plus VAT²¹. Bulk domestic LPG contracts offer a further example of sector-specific rights: customers have improved rights to cancel or to switch supplier if prices rise beyond a specified level²². Where a Green Deal loan is involved, the Energy Ombudsman can handle complaints if you are not happy with the work the installer did, including where a seller or landlord did not tell you about the loan²³.

Card and finance payments: using chargeback and Section 75

If you paid by debit or credit card, ask your card provider about a chargeback. Usually, a consumer must make a chargeback claim within 120 days of when they bought the goods or service, though this can vary⁵. Chargeback is a scheme rule, not a legal right, so the outcome rests with your card provider.

Finance gives you a stronger route. Where the cost exceeds £30,000 and is less than £60,260, and the finance was arranged specifically to buy the goods or service, the Consumer Credit Act can make the lender jointly liable for the trader's failings¹⁹. For smaller credit purchases, section 75 works in a similar way, which is covered in more detail on Section 75, chargeback and paying for installation work safely. Paying by card or finance does not stop you complaining to the installer and its code at the same time.

What this means for your energy independence

A cancellation charge dispute is really about control: the right to change your mind about a major purchase before you are locked in. The 14 day cooling-off period exists precisely so a household can weigh up a boiler, heat pump or solar quote without pressure, and a firm that charges you for exercising that right, or that starts work early to defeat it, is removing that control. Knowing the rules keeps the choice of when and with whom to invest in your home with you, not with the salesperson.

The dependence that remains is real: once work starts, you owe for what has been done, and recovering money from a firm that will not pay up means relying on its consumer code, trading standards, your card provider or an ombudsman. Paying in ways that carry protection, and keeping every piece of paper, is what turns those routes from theory into a refund. For the wider picture of who installs what in UK homes, see home energy installers and retailers, and for the contract rules in detail, installation contracts and your cancellation rights.