How much compensation can the Energy Ombudsman award?

Short answer

Up to £10,000 in total. That covers money you are owed, evidenced out-of-pocket losses and a separate payment for distress and inconvenience, and it binds your supplier once you accept it. Automatic payments of £30 or more may also be due under Ofgem’s Guaranteed Standards.

The Energy Ombudsman is free, covers domestic and microbusiness customers of every Ofgem-licensed supplier, and can direct a supplier to put things right up to a total of £10,000. That ceiling is well above the value of most energy disputes. Awards are compensatory rather than punitive: the aim is to put you back where you should have been, plus a proportionate payment for the trouble caused.

What an award can include

Money you are owed — a credit balance returned, a corrected bill, or charges removed that should never have been applied.
Out-of-pocket losses flowing from the supplier's failure, evidenced with receipts, quotes or bank statements.
Distress and inconvenience — a separate sum reflecting how long the problem ran and how much chasing you had to do.
Practical action — fixing a meter, unwinding an erroneous transfer, or correcting credit-file entries damaged by the dispute.
An apology and an explanation of what went wrong.

Running alongside the ombudsman are Ofgem's Guaranteed Standards, which require automatic payments from £30 upwards when a supplier misses a meter appointment, fails to restore supply within the required time, or does not respond to a complaint. These are supposed to reach your account without you claiming them, and frequently do not — if one was due and never paid, say so expressly in your referral.

Getting to the point where an award is possible

You can refer once 8 weeks have passed since you first raised the complaint, or immediately if you hold a deadlock letter. Do not sit on it: the ombudsman can refuse a dispute brought more than 12 months after the deadlock letter. Refer at energyombudsman.org or on 0330 440 1624, and send a dated chronology, the bills and meter readings, and the correspondence. Almost every case is decided on the documents, so a clear written timeline does more work than a long phone call.

What the ombudsman cannot do is fine your supplier or change the price of energy — that is Ofgem's job as regulator — and it cannot touch a heat network that is not an Ofgem-licensed supplier. The decision also binds the supplier only if you accept it. Acceptance closes the dispute for good, so where the award falls well short of a properly quantified loss, weigh it against the small claims track before you sign.

Read the full guide: Energy Complaints and the Energy OmbudsmanCovers eligibility, the process, deadlines, and next steps in depth.

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