Biennial assessment of the Ombudsman Services under the ADR Regulations 2019-2021
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In September 2015, Ofgem appointed The Ombudsman Service (Ombudsman Services) as the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body for the energy sector under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes Regulations 2015 1. The Ombudsman Services plays an important role in ensuring good consumer outcomes and trust in the energy market by investigating disputes between consumers and energy suppliers when consumers remain dissatisfied with the way their energy company has handled their dispute.
In accordance with Ofgem’s role as the Competent Authority, every two years we are responsible for assessing whether the Ombudsman Services still meets the approval criteria under which it was appointed. We have completed this assessment for the period 2019-2021.
We can confirm that, in our view, the Ombudsman Services meets all relevant criteria to the extent necessary to retain its status as ADR provider. We identified a number of criteria where we consider that improvements can be made and have shared these with the Ombudsman Services. The improvements identified include the provision of information in more prominent locations to raise greater awareness of:
- the process for filing and progressing postal complaints;
- the availability of translation services;
- the availability of support functions, enabling the completion of complaint forms by ADR staff, and;
- the method and duration of the Ombudsman Services appointment.
[1] Redress Schemes; approval of ADR body: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/redress-schemes-approval-adr-body