Compensation for energy supply issues

Check if you are entitled to compensation

Network companies are responsible for maintaining supply on the grid and fixing power cuts.

You may be entitled to compensation if your gas or electricity supply goes off. The amount you can claim depends on whether the cut was planned, how long it lasted, or if it was the network company’s fault.

The Powercut 105 website has advice on what to do in a power cut.

If you get cut off because of a faulty energy meter or if you run out of prepayment meter credit, contact your energy supplier.

Compensation for power cuts in normal weather

If your power is cut off your local network company has up to 24 hours to restore supplies, if more than 5,000 homes are affected by a single fault.

If you are cut off for 12 hours or more, you can claim £90 as a domestic customer or £175 as a non-domestic customer.

You can get a further £40 for each additional 12 hours of being off supply, up to a total of £300.

If you are cut off more than four times in a year for at least three hours each time, you can claim an extra £80 as a domestic or non-domestic customer.

The year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

Compensation for power cuts in severe weather

Your level of compensation depends on the category of the severe weather, and how long you were without a power supply.

Amount of storm compensation you could get

Storm category 1

You can get £80 if your power has been cut-off for 24 hours.

You will get an extra £40 for every 6 hours afterwards. The maximum amount you can claim is £2,000.

Storm category 2

You can get £80 if your power has been cut-off for 48 hours.

You will get an extra £40 for every 6 hours afterwards. The maximum amount you can claim is £2,000.

If the power cut is because of disruption to the national energy supply, you will not be entitled to compensation. This is because it is not due to a fault on the network.

Compensation if your gas supply goes off

You can claim at least £40 if your gas supply goes off due to planned works without seven days notice from your network operator. If it goes off due to planned works without five days’ notice from your network operator you can claim £20.

For unplanned interruptions to your gas supply you are entitled to at least £60 for every 24 hours the gas is off. Additional payments and provisions are available for households on the Priority Services Register, such as alternative heating.

You can claim more if you are off supply for more than 24 hours. The amount increases depending on how long you are off supply.

If your gas goes off because of disruption to the national energy supply, you will not be entitled to compensation. This is because it is not due to a fault on the network.

How to claim

You must claim within three months for unplanned supply cuts, or within a month for planned supply cuts where you were not given notice.

You can make a claim through your local network company.

Our role

If problems occur, we want supplies restored quickly.

We monitor how well network companies do this and how well-prepared they are to deal with impacts on the network.

If we think companies are not meeting their obligations to customers, we take action.