The short answer
Billing chaos, a switch gone wrong, a smart meter that never works, communal heating charges you can’t unpick. If your energy supplier has said no or gone quiet, this is where it goes. The supplier gets eight weeks, or less if it admits deadlock; you then get twelve months. It’s free, awards reach £10,000, and the company is bound by the outcome if you accept it.
What to do today: find the date you first complained to the supplier and count eight weeks. Past it, or holding a deadlock letter? You can refer right now, the form takes less time than the hold music did.
Who do they cover?
Gas and electricity suppliers. Billing, switching, meters, prepayment, customer service, mis-selling. Network operators, for connections and supply interruptions. And since April 2025, heat networks: if your flat, student accommodation or assisted-living scheme has communal heating from a central source, your heat supplier is now covered too, with all heat networks under Ofgem regulation. They have been required to register with the scheme since 27 January 2026. Most people on communal heating still don’t know they have this route. They do, and complaints reach back to when the protection began.
The boundary cases: Ofgem doesn’t handle individual complaints, it regulates the market, and writing to it about your bill routes nowhere; the supplier-then-ombudsman road is the road. The price cap’s level is policy, not a dispute. And if you’re off supply or about to be disconnected, that’s an emergency the complaints process is too slow for. Your supplier’s priority line first, and Citizens Advice if you’re getting nowhere.
Not sure your problem belongs here? Start here and we’ll route you.
The two clocks
- The supplier’s time to resolve it
From your first complaint8 weeks - Or a deadlock letter
Their admission it’s unresolved. This opens the door earlyany time - Your window to refer
From the eight weeks passing, or the deadlock letter12 months
A deadlock letter isn’t a defeat, it’s a key. If the conversation is circular, asking the supplier to issue one is often faster than waiting out the eight weeks.
How do you refer?
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Gather the file
Your complaint, the supplier’s responses or the deadlock letter, meter readings and bills that matter. Photos of the meter beat descriptions of it.
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Fill in the form at energyombudsman.org
Plain words: what happened, what it’s cost you, what would put it right. Account number and supplier name do the matching; drafting skill isn’t being marked.
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If they’ve simply gone quiet, say exactly that
“I complained on [date]. More than eight weeks have passed and the supplier has not resolved my complaint or issued a deadlock letter. I am referring it on that basis.”An investigator then asks the supplier for documents for its file, which is often the moment the offer improves.
What can they award?
Up to £10,000 for a domestic dispute (£20,000 for small businesses), but the useful outcomes are often practical as much as financial: a corrected bill, a written explanation, an apology that admits the thing, an action the supplier must actually take, with compensation for the cost and trouble on top. Accept the decision and it binds the supplier; decline it and your right to court survives untouched.
Common questions
Do I have to wait the full eight weeks?
Only if the supplier stays silent. A deadlock letter, theirs to issue, yours to request, opens the ombudsman’s door the day it arrives. If a supplier refuses to progress your complaint and won’t issue deadlock, note the refusal in your referral; going nowhere twice is its own evidence.
I’m on communal heating (a heat network). Am I really covered?
Yes, since April 2025, and your heat supplier has been required to register with the scheme since January 2026. Billing, charges, supply reliability, customer service: the same free route as gas and electricity. If you can’t find your supplier on the ombudsman’s list, tell the ombudsman. An unregistered supplier is its problem to chase, not your dead end.
My complaint is really about prices, or about Ofgem.
The ombudsman decides individual disputes, not policy. The price cap’s level, standing charges in general, market rules are Ofgem territory and consultation responses, not complaints. But look twice at your own case first: “the price is wrong” is policy; “I was billed at a rate I never agreed” or “my fixed deal wasn’t honoured” are disputes, and those are exactly what this scheme is for.
Sources: Energy Ombudsman — our process (the eight weeks, deadlock and twelve-month rules); Energy Ombudsman — what to expect (award limits and outcomes); Energy Ombudsman — heat networks (coverage since April 2025 and mandatory registration from 27 January 2026).
Taken a supplier to the Energy Ombudsman?