The Energy Ombudsman launched its dispute resolution scheme for the energy broker market in December 2022, extending its dispute handling to microbusiness consumers who use brokers1.
The scheme covers microbusiness consumers who choose to work with brokers and who, in the Ombudsman's words, "have not previously had these protections"1. The Ombudsman describes its role in the market as resolving disputes independently and impartially, which it says "in turn promotes fairness within the sector"1.
"In December 2022 we successfully launched our dispute resolution scheme for the energy broker market."
The Ombudsman has since published annual reviews of the scheme. Reports are listed for 2024, 2025 and 20261. In the review, the Ombudsman states that three years into operation of the scheme it wants to share with the industry what it has found through complaints consumers have brought to it, with a view to improving the consumer experience and the sector overall1.
The published material does not set out the number of complaints received, the outcomes reached, or the specific grounds on which a microbusiness can bring a broker dispute to the Ombudsman. Those details have not been reported.
Why it matters for households
The scheme as described applies to microbusiness consumers, not to domestic households1. For a home, the practical relevance is indirect: it establishes that brokers acting for small non-domestic customers sit within an ombudsman scheme, which is a different position from the one the Ombudsman describes as applying before December 2022, when those consumers "have not previously had these protections"1.
Households that deal with energy comparison sites, brokers and third party intermediaries are not covered by this scheme on the wording given. Domestic complaints about a supplier follow the established route set out in energy complaints and redress, and the Ombudsman's own remit and powers are described in what the Energy Ombudsman is and what it can decide. The process for raising a complaint is set out in complaining about an energy supplier, and the evidence an ombudsman complaint typically needs is covered in what evidence is needed for an energy Ombudsman complaint.
For a household's energy independence, the significance is limited to the broker layer of the market rather than to supply itself. Where a home's arrangements depend on an intermediary, the existence of an independent dispute route for one class of customer is a marker of how that layer is regulated, but it does not change the protections available to domestic customers, which remain those of the supplier complaints route. The wider picture of how suppliers and intermediaries sit in the market is covered under energy suppliers and regulation and policy.
What happens next
The Ombudsman has published annual reviews of the broker scheme for 2024, 2025 and 20261. No further dated steps are given in the published material.
Sources1 cited
- Energy Broker Annual Review | Energy Ombudsman, energyombudsman.org