Check if you have money in a closed energy account

There is currently over £240 million left in closed energy accounts. We are working together with suppliers to get the money back to the right people.

What credit means on an energy bill

If you overpay for your energy, this will be kept in your account as credit and can be used to help pay for future bills. It is good to keep your current account in credit, especially in winter.

When you move on and close this account, this money is usually paid back to you or the account holder.

However, sometimes it can be hard to find who an account belongs to once it is closed. The account holder may have moved, changed contact details or passed away.

If an account holder cannot be found, suppliers can move unclaimed money to support funds.

Get information on building credit balances and when you can claim a refund.

If there is money in your account when it closes

Your supplier will contact you if there is money in your account when it closes. They will always try and take an accurate final meter reading before you close it.

If they have your details, they will be able to send you a final bill and refund the credit balance in your account. There are multiple ways you can have this money returned to you.

They will do their best to get in touch with you if they cannot find your contact details. They may ask current tenants for a forwarding address or work with credit reporting agencies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion to try and find those details.

If you are not sure if there is money left in your account, think about the following:

• Have you changed suppliers or moved in the last 5 years?
• Was your account missing your name or contact details? You may have been listed as just the ‘occupier’.
• Are you handling the account for someone who has died?
• Have you taken over responsibility for someone else’s account? For example, through power of attorney.
• Did you cancel your direct debit before you received your final bill?

If the answers to any of the above are yes, it might be worth checking with the supplier to see if there is any money in your old account.

You can call or email the supplier or log into the old online account if you had one.

If the energy supplier stopped trading

Contact the new supplier that took over the failed energy company for details about your closed account.

Find out what to do if your energy supplier goes bust.

What your supplier needs from you

Have ready anything that you think could help the supplier find the old account. This could be:

• the previous account number
• the previous address
• an old bill, letter or email linked to the account
• details of when you or the account holder lived there
• details of switching contracts if relevant

How to get your money back

We are working closely with Energy UK and energy suppliers to make sure this money is returned to customers quickly.

Sign into the old account if you still have access and update your details. If you do not have access, contact your supplier directly.

Find and contact your energy supplier about getting a refund.

Changes to the energy industry

We want to change the rules to make bills more accurate. More accurate bills will help protect consumers from building large credit balances in the future.

We are also looking at sharing data regularly on how many closed accounts still have credit left in them.