Energy Complaints and Redress: Ombudsman, Citizens Advice and Ofgem

When an energy supplier gets something wrong, a late bill, a faulty meter, a refund it refuses to pay, a British household does not have to simply absorb it. The law gives you a right to complain to your supplier and a right to a resolution, and if you are not happy with the response, the right to ask the Energy Ombudsman to investigate¹. The supplier has 8 weeks to fix the problem, after which the Ombudsman, a free and independent service approved by Ofgem, can step in².

The sums involved are modest but real. The Ombudsman can award up to £10,000 for domestic disputes with an energy supplier, though its most common award is around £50, based on the cost of putting things right⁴. It cannot fine companies or dictate how they operate; that is the job of the regulator³. This page sets out the whole route: who handles what, when the eight-week clock starts, what evidence to keep, and where redress stops.

Three organisations and their real roles

Energy redress in Britain involves three distinct bodies, and confusing them is the most common reason complaints stall.

Ofgem is the regulator. It licenses suppliers, sets the rules they must follow and can take enforcement action against them. But Ofgem does not investigate individual household complaints. Its guidance directs consumers with a problem to their supplier first, and then to the Ombudsman².

The Energy Ombudsman is the dispute resolution body. It is approved by Ofgem to handle service disputes in the energy sector, but it is an independent service, separate from the regulator, covering problems with an energy supplier, an energy broker, a network operator or a heat network supplier³. Its service is free to consumers³.

Citizens Advice and Consumer Scotland are the advice services. Citizens Advice's free consumer service helps people in England and Wales with problems with their energy bills or supply⁷, while Energyadvice.scot provides a free service for Scottish citizens with questions about their supplier, its complaints process or billing problems⁸. They advise before and alongside a complaint; the Ombudsman adjudicates after one.

The legal backbone is the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Complaints Handling Standards) Regulations 2008, which require suppliers to handle complaints within set standards and to tell customers of their right to refer the matter to the Energy Ombudsman⁹.

Start with your supplier: you have eight weeks

Every route to redress starts in the same place: the supplier itself. Your energy supplier must try to fix any problems you reported within 8 weeks and resolve the complaint². The same eight-week period applies across the energy sector's redress arrangements: to heat network complaints¹⁰, to Smart Export Guarantee disputes¹¹, to Green Deal complaints in England and Wales¹¹, and to Feed-in Tariff generators, who can refer a dispute to the Ombudsman if a mutually agreeable outcome has not been reached after 8 weeks¹².

The supplier's obligations during those eight weeks are not just to try, but to keep you informed. Ofgem's guidance for suppliers, issued under the 2008 Regulations, requires them to provide the customer with information about their right to refer the complaint to the Energy Ombudsman⁹.

The problems you can raise with a supplier in the first place are broad. Ofgem lists late, incorrect or missing bills, back billing, being overcharged, a faulty meter, poor customer service, and refusing to refund credit from your account⁷. For smart meter users, the same route applies: if an issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Energy Ombudsman¹³.

Deadlock letters: skipping the eight-week wait

A deadlock letter is a supplier's written statement that your problem cannot be fixed, or that it believes there is no more it can do². Its effect is simple: it lets you escalate to the Energy Ombudsman sooner than the full eight weeks⁵.

Without a deadlock letter, the rule is time-based. If eight weeks pass without a resolution, you can bring the dispute to the Ombudsman for free and independent review¹⁴. With one, the clock stops immediately. Either way, the eligibility test the Ombudsman applies is the same: you must have complained to the supplier already, and have received a deadlock letter or waited 8 weeks without resolution¹⁵.

There is a deadline on the far side too. Once you receive a deadlock letter, you must escalate your dispute within 12 months of receiving the letter³. A complaint that sits in a drawer for a year can become one the Ombudsman cannot take.

The disputes you can raise

The Ombudsman's remit has widened considerably, and it now covers five main categories of dispute: an energy supplier, an energy broker, a network operator, a Green Deal provider or a heat network supplier¹⁴.

Energy suppliers are the core of the scheme, covering billing, service and account disputes¹⁶. Energy brokers, the intermediaries who arrange business energy contracts, are covered up to a £10,000 award limit⁴. Network operators, the companies that run the wires and pipes, are covered where there is a loss of service or a problem with a connection or repair¹⁷.

Green Deal disputes are covered where a provider is unable or unwilling to help when something goes wrong with a Green Deal plan¹⁶. Heat networks joined the scheme on 1 April 2025, when the Ombudsman began handling heat network disputes for consumers and small businesses¹⁶. The Ombudsman can also review disputes with any heat network where the supplier has failed to meet its obligations under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) or Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS), for example by not notifying customers of the benefit or not passing it through within the required timeframe¹⁸.

Two newer additions sit alongside these. From 8 January 2026 the Ombudsman can handle disputes for a number of flexibility service providers¹⁶. And there are over 20 Ombudsman schemes in the UK in total; travel, retail, insurance, employment, financial products and banking are all handled by other schemes, not this one¹⁵.

Who qualifies: homes, micro and small firms

The Ombudsman processes complaints from both domestic and small business consumers in the energy sector¹⁴. Only domestic consumers, micro-businesses and small businesses may apply¹².

The size thresholds matter for business users, and the Ombudsman publishes them precisely. A small business is one with fewer than 50 employees (or their full-time equivalent) and an annual turnover of at most £6.5 million or a balance sheet total of £5.0 million, or an annual electricity consumption of not more than 200,000 kWh or gas consumption of not more than 500,000 kWh³.

A micro-business qualifies on lower thresholds: an annual electricity consumption of not more than 100,000 kWh, or gas consumption of not more than 293,000 kWh, or an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding £2 million³. The Ombudsman also describes the micro-business test as employing fewer than ten employees with an annual turnover or balance sheet no greater than that cap¹⁹.

For heat networks, both consumers and small businesses can use the scheme from 1 April 2025¹⁶.

Taking it further: routes, proof and timing

Once the eight weeks have passed, or a deadlock letter has arrived, registering the dispute is straightforward. You can register via the website, post, email or telephone, free of charge¹⁹. The Ombudsman states that creating a case using its website is the fastest way to escalate a dispute for investigation²⁰. The starting point on the website is to search for the name of your energy supplier¹⁵.

Before you do, the Ombudsman's checklist is consistent: you must have complained to the supplier already, allowed it 8 weeks to resolve the dispute or received a deadlock letter, and have sufficient evidence to support your case, including the date you raised the complaint²⁰. One practical point from the scheme's own dispute pages: the supplier name on your account must match the name on your bill, so check the exact trading name before registering¹⁵.

Once a case is open, you have up to 14 days to upload evidence to support it³. The Ombudsman will then ask you to send information and evidence, review evidence from both you and the energy company, and inform you of its decision within 6 weeks⁶. On average, most disputes are resolved within 6 weeks of the Ombudsman receiving evidence from both parties⁴.

There is also a faster track for some disputes. Facilitated Complaints Resolution applies to disputes against a participating energy supplier, energy broker or heat network, residential or business, where the company is notified and can make an offer to settle. If you do not accept the offer, or the company does not make one, the dispute moves on to a full investigation as normal⁵.

The Ombudsman's powers and their limits

The Ombudsman's powers are those of an adjudicator, not a regulator. It can tell suppliers to take practical action, such as crediting or cancelling an account, or changing your tariff; to make an apology; or to offer a financial award, or a combination of these. It may also make recommendations to prevent issues happening again⁴.

The financial limits are set by sector. Against energy suppliers, it can award up to £10,000 for domestic energy disputes or up to £20,000 for small business disputes. Against energy brokers, up to £10,000. Against flexibility service providers, up to £10,000 for domestic disputes or up to £20,000 for micro-business consumers⁴.

What it cannot do is equally important. The Ombudsman cannot punish companies, dictate how companies operate, or issue fines⁴. As it puts the responsibility itself: "We do not issue fines or dictate how companies operate, this is the responsibility of the companies' trade body or regulator."³

The size of awards in practice reflects this. The average award is around £50¹⁴, and the most common financial award is around £50, sometimes referred to as a Time and Trouble Award³. Awards are based on the cost of putting things right, such as ensuring you have been charged accurately, clearing unfair charges or fixing faults⁴. A household going to the Ombudsman should expect a remedy proportionate to the actual loss and inconvenience, not a windfall.

The outcome: 28 days and who must comply

The asymmetry at the heart of the scheme is that decisions bind the energy company but not the consumer²¹. If you accept the decision, the supplier has 28 days to implement the remedy¹⁴, and when you accept the resolution, your supplier is obliged to implement it within 28 days³.

If you reject the decision, you are free to pursue the matter by other means; the company is not released from anything you have accepted, but you are not bound by what you have not. The scheme's own description of the facilitated route makes the same point at the earlier stage: if you do not accept the offer, or the company does not make one, the dispute moves on to a full investigation⁵.

For households with a complaint about a Welsh Government energy support scheme, a similar internal structure applies: the Nest home energy support scheme's team will escalate a complaint if needed and advise of the applicable appeals procedure, with complaints accepted up to twelve months after the event itself²².

The limits of redress

The scheme has hard edges, and it is better to know them before investing months in a complaint.

• Suppliers that have ceased trading. The Energy Ombudsman will not consider disputes against a supplier that has ceased trading, because the supplier will not be able to implement any remedy. For the same reason, it is not able to progress any cases currently open on its systems when a supplier fails²⁰.
• Territory. The Ombudsman only handles disputes involving suppliers trading in Britain³.
• Excluded disputes. It does not deal with disputes about commercial decisions made by companies about whether to provide a product or service, or liquid petroleum gas (LPG)¹⁶.
• Wrong sector. Travel, retail, insurance, employment, financial products and banking belong to other ombudsman schemes¹⁵.

Supplier failure deserves particular attention, because it has been common. When a supplier fails, its customers are moved to a new supplier under the Supplier of Last Resort process, and the complaint route restarts there: complain to the new supplier, and if the complaint is unresolved after eight weeks, dispute resolution can be pursued through the Energy Ombudsman²⁰. A Green Deal example illustrates the problem of companies that fail: Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd has gone out of business, and a complaint against it cannot proceed in the normal way¹¹. More on this process is covered in supplier licensing and supplier failure.

No-cost help: Citizens Advice, Energyadvice.scot, Extra Help Unit

Redress does not have to be navigated alone, and the advice services are free.

In England and Wales, Citizens Advice's free consumer service can help with problems with energy bills or supply⁷. It also has a referral route for harder cases: it may refer you to the Extra Help Unit if you need support with a difficult or urgent complaint, cannot deal with your energy supplier on your own due to personal circumstances, are considered vulnerable, or are at risk of being disconnected from an energy supply⁶.

In Scotland, Energyadvice.scot provides a free service for Scottish citizens who have questions about their energy supplier, want to understand their supplier's complaints process, or have problems with their energy bills⁸.

For heat network customers, the guidance is consistent across the bodies: complain to the provider first, give it eight weeks, then go to the Ombudsman²³. The Ombudsman's contact details for any route are: email enquiry@energyombudsman.org, phone 0330 440 1624 (press option 3 for heat networks), or post to Energy Ombudsman, P.O. Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF²⁰.

Redress for households off the grid

For a household working towards energy independence, the redress system is the safety net under every commercial relationship in the chain: the supplier that bills you, the network that connects you, the broker that arranges your contract, the heat network that warms a flat, the Green Deal provider that financed your insulation. Each of those is a dependence, and each now has an independent adjudicator attached to it.

The net has real limits, and they fall exactly where a self-sufficient household is most exposed. A supplier that fails removes the Ombudsman route with it, since disputes against ceased suppliers are not considered and open cases cannot progress²⁰. The Ombudsman cannot fine or punish, so it cannot change a company's behaviour beyond your own case³. Its awards are calibrated to the cost of putting things right, typically around £50³. And it only covers suppliers trading in Britain³.

What the system does deliver is a free, binding-on-the-company route to a remedy, with a 28-day implementation deadline once you accept³, and free advice services in each nation to help you get there⁷. Used well, with dates recorded and evidence kept, it is one of the few parts of the energy system where the household, not the company, holds the final say.