Energy Ombudsman resolves eligible disputes with energy suppliers and other covered energy businesses after the business has had the required chance to put matters right.
Energy Ombudsman is a free independent dispute-resolution service covering areas including energy suppliers and, depending on the scheme, certain brokers, network operators, Green Deal and heat-network disputes.
The usual route is to complain to the energy business first. Current Energy Ombudsman material refers to an eight-week opportunity to resolve the complaint, although deadlock and scheme-specific rules can affect when you can refer.
Key points
- Start with the supplier/business complaint process.
- Keep bills, meter readings, photographs and account calculations.
- Separate billing accuracy, metering, service and complaint-handling issues.
- Check the current eligibility rules before referral.
Common disputes
- Incorrect bills or account balances.
- Metering and readings.
- Customer service and complaint handling.
- Switching and account transfer issues.
- Supplier actions after vulnerability or affordability concerns.
Evidence for billing disputes
Build a simple period-by-period table of opening read, closing read, tariff, charges, payments and credits. Screenshots of smart-meter data or photos of physical readings can be valuable where the supplier’s billing history is disputed.
Remedies
Depending on the case, remedies can include practical corrective action, account adjustment, apology and financial redress. State what would actually resolve the account rather than asking only for generic compensation.
In practice
- Do not let a complaint become only a debate about customer service if the account balance itself is wrong.
- Preserve meter evidence before equipment is changed.
- If a vulnerability issue affected the harm, explain the practical consequence.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Raise a formal complaint.
- Build a billing/meter chronology.
- Request a deadlock response if the business reaches that point.
- Refer to Energy Ombudsman when eligible.
- State the exact account correction and redress sought.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Submitting only the latest bill when the dispute spans many billing periods.
- Failing to distinguish usage from tariff/standing-charge errors.
- Missing supporting meter evidence.
Evidence worth keeping
Where to go next
Ofgem is the sector regulator; Energy Ombudsman is the individual dispute route.
Understand what the outcome can and cannot do
Ask the Ombudsman to state clearly what it finds on each disputed issue and how any account correction or compensation is to be implemented. If the complaint involves vulnerability or financial difficulty, identify the practical impact and any relevant protections rather than treating vulnerability as a label.
Keep the routes separate.
Regulator, ombudsman/ADR, statutory appeal and court proceedings can have different purposes, powers and deadlines. Using one route does not automatically preserve another.
Build the complaint for an independent reader
Energy disputes often become unreadable because multiple rebills are discussed at once. Create a before/after calculation and identify the first entry you say is wrong. For service complaints, separate the underlying billing/supply correction from inconvenience compensation.
| If they say… | What to check or say back |
|---|---|
| “The latest bill is correct, so earlier handling no longer matters.” | A corrected account may resolve the balance but not necessarily complaint-handling impact or consequential loss. |
| “The meter reading proves the debt.” | Check tariff, billing period, opening/closing reads and payments as well as the reading itself. |
| “Ofgem regulates us.” | That does not prevent eligible individual ADR through Energy Ombudsman. |
| “Eight weeks has not passed.” | A qualifying deadlock/final position may permit earlier referral. |
Check jurisdiction and timing before writing the full case
Do the gateway checks first. A perfectly argued complaint can still fail if it is sent to the wrong body, too early, too late or against a respondent outside the scheme.
- Open a formal complaint with the energy business and keep the complaint start date.
- You can normally approach Energy Ombudsman after eight weeks unresolved or earlier if the business issues a deadlock/final position that permits referral.
- Check that the business and subject matter are covered.
- Build a bill/account chronology: meter reads, tariff, payments, adjustments, complaint correspondence and the remedy sought.
Is Energy Ombudsman actually the right body?
Energy Ombudsman provides independent ADR for eligible disputes with energy suppliers and other participating energy-sector businesses. It is the personal redress route after the business has had the required opportunity to resolve the complaint; Ofgem is the regulator.
Report systemic regulatory concerns to Ofgem where appropriate, but do not expect Ofgem to adjudicate your individual bill. For debt, credit-file or data issues, additional routes may also be engaged.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.