When the Energy Ombudsman can look at your complaint

The Energy Ombudsman is free to use and independent. It can consider a complaint about a gas or electricity supplier once one of two things has happened: your supplier has issued a final response and you are not satisfied with it, or eight weeks have passed since you first complained and the matter is still unresolved.

Going to the scheme before either of those points usually results in the complaint being referred back to the supplier, which costs weeks. Getting the timing right is one of the most common reasons a case stalls.

The eight week rule and the deadlock letter

If your supplier reaches a position before eight weeks and will not move further, it can issue what is often called a deadlock letter. That letter is your route to the Ombudsman straight away, without waiting out the full eight weeks. If you have not had one and eight weeks have gone by, you can go to the scheme regardless.

We prepare the letter that puts your complaint to the supplier formally, sets out what you are asking for, and creates the paper trail the Ombudsman will later want to see.

What the Energy Ombudsman asks you to provide

The scheme decides on the written record. The stronger and clearer that record, the less time the case takes. In practice it will look for:

• The date you first complained and how you complained
• Your supplier's final response, or evidence that eight weeks have passed
• Meter readings, bills and statements relevant to the period in dispute
• A clear statement of what you are asking the supplier to do
• Any correspondence where the supplier's position changed or was not followed through

Which suppliers the scheme covers

All domestic gas and electricity suppliers licensed in Great Britain fall within the Energy Ombudsman's remit, including the larger names such as E.ON, EDF, Ovo, Octopus, Scottish Power, British Gas and SSE, and smaller and business focused suppliers such as Ecotricity, Good Energy, Energia, Haven Power and Yu Energy. If your supplier holds a licence, the scheme can consider a complaint about it.

A brokered business energy contract can be different, since some brokers sit outside the scheme. It is worth checking that point early rather than after a complaint has been submitted.

What we prepare

We draft the correspondence: the initial complaint letter to the supplier, follow up letters where the supplier does not respond, and the submission that puts the complaint to the Energy Ombudsman with your evidence organised and referenced.

Equisure Direct is a document preparation service. We are not a law firm, we are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and we do not provide legal advice or act as your representative. We cannot guarantee any particular outcome, and no one honestly can. What we do is make sure the case you put forward is complete, correctly framed and properly evidenced, so it is judged on its merits rather than on a gap in the paperwork.

Read more: the Energy Ombudsman complaint process, step by step.

Which ombudsman covers your complaint

The scheme depends on the industry, not on the type of problem, and each one has its own rules and wording. These guides cover each in turn:

• Energy Ombudsman, for gas and electricity. There is no separate gas ombudsman or electricity ombudsman, both go to the same scheme.
• Communications Ombudsman, for landline, mobile and broadband. Two schemes cover telecoms and which one applies depends on your provider.
• Water complaints, where there is no water ombudsman as such. Complaints go to your company, then CCW, then independent adjudication.
• Financial Ombudsman Service, for banks, insurers, lenders and other financial firms.

Sending a detailed letter to the wrong scheme costs you weeks, because the case is returned rather than decided. Check which one applies before you write.