Energy Ombudsman Avis 

The Energy Ombudsman is NOT Independent and many of the emails etc appeared to be written in the same style and wording of my energy provider. I would ask you this question. If a wife was told by her unfaithful husband that he was paying for a very expensive solicitor to handle his side of their Divorce and that his solicitor suggested he represent both of them and that his wife would not need to pay him a penny.
Would a sane person believe that the Solicitor would do right by the wife even though she has not contributed to his funds, or would the Solicitor focus on getting the best result for the PROVIDER who is paying him a handsome fee? Before you answer the errant husband's name is Octopus

Has not in any way addressed the ongoing problems, just a acknowledgement that the person who calls himself a coach has passed on my complaint to the same person that is supposed to be dealing with it since February last on behalf of the Energy Ombudsman. Scottish Power have also not very simply dealt with a very solvable problem ongoing since October 24.

Reference/Case Number: EG057308-26

I am formally rejecting the investigator's findings and position on this case.
To claim there is "no remedy" based on an electricity usage metric while ignoring the wider context of this crisis—and then attempting to police how I budget my household finances or prioritize my essential communication lines—is entirely unjust. It is clear to me, as it is to countless other consumers sharing their experiences on platforms like Trustpilot, that this process leans heavily toward protecting the supplier rather than protecting struggling consumers.
When households are being squeezed by exorbitant bills and corporate greed during a relentless cost-of-living crisis, being told to accept an unfair assessment is unacceptable. Because of this flawed outcome, I will be escalating this matter further outside of this process, and this case—along with how it has been handled—will also be shared publicly on Trustpilot to highlight these systemic issues.
Regards,
Jay Powell

By the way this will be shared on trust pilot and Google reviews energy ombudsman.

Let people know don’t bother taking your greedy energy company to ombudsman, take them to small claims courts as all ombudsman are completely biased.

Process so far has been good. Just at the stage of submitting evidence. Good to have a personal contact to call if necessary.

The ombudsman is an excellent service if you feel you are getting nowhere with the company with which you have a complaint. I was struggling to get a refund from Scottish Power after mistakenly paying a back payment for a utilities bill which had wrongly connected my address to a meter in a neighbouring property. SP had not been supplying my property. I immediately called SP and registered a complaint. While SP agreed that I shouldn't have been billed they seemed unable to refund my payment after three attempts. After eight weeks I registered my complaint with the energy ombudsman. A few weeks later my complaint case was settled and I received a full refund, additional payment and an apology letter. I was very pleased with the energy ombudsman experience -definitely worth the extra effort.

I approached the Energy Ombudsman as a last resort after exhausting every avenue available to me. I am a vulnerable customer and spent months trying to resolve matters directly with Scottish Power before seeking independent help.

Before escalating my complaint, I had already applied for Scottish Power’s Hardship Fund, explored Fuel Direct payments through the Department for Work and Pensions, and repeatedly tried to agree an affordable repayment arrangement. I engaged with Scottish Power on numerous occasions, providing my financial circumstances and explaining what I could realistically afford. My proposals were repeatedly declined, and I was left with no sustainable solution. It was these failed attempts, and the way I was treated throughout the process, that led me to ask the Energy Ombudsman to investigate.

During the investigation, Scottish Power referred my account to debt collection on two separate occasions while my complaint was still being investigated by the Ombudsman. This caused significant additional stress and further demonstrated that the relationship between myself and Scottish Power had completely broken down.

The Ombudsman ultimately found there had been multiple failings by Scottish Power, including in the way they had treated me as a vulnerable customer, and awarded compensation to recognise those failings. However, despite acknowledging that Scottish Power’s handling of my case had fallen below the expected standard, the proposed remedy was for me to return to the same company and repeat many of the very processes that had already failed.

I found this extremely difficult to understand. The Ombudsman was aware that I had already applied for assistance, including the Hardship Fund and affordable repayment arrangements, and that these had been refused. They were also aware that I had explained the proposed payment amounts would leave me in significant financial hardship. Despite this, I was effectively directed back into the same system, with no safeguards in place to prevent the same outcome from happening again.

If an investigation concludes that a supplier has repeatedly failed a vulnerable customer, it is difficult to understand why the resolution is to send that customer back through the same process that gave rise to the complaint in the first place, without any independent oversight or protection.

I was also disappointed with the complaints process itself. When I wanted to challenge the proposed outcome, I did not feel there was a genuinely independent review available. My challenge remained with the same case handler who had investigated my complaint, and I felt my concerns about the investigation itself were not independently considered. I was also left feeling that the scope of what I could challenge was being directed, rather than allowing me to raise all of the concerns I believed were relevant.

Perhaps most concerning is that I could not find a clear, independent process for customers who believe their case has not been handled fairly by their case handler. An Ombudsman exists to provide an impartial review, but there should also be an independent safeguard where a customer believes the investigation itself has fallen short.

This process took months, caused considerable stress, and left me feeling no further forward. I expected an independent organisation to provide a practical resolution that reflected both the acknowledged failings and my vulnerability. Instead, I was awarded compensation for Scottish Power’s treatment of me, while simultaneously being directed back into the very system that had already failed me, with no meaningful safeguards to prevent history repeating itself.

For an organisation whose role is to resolve disputes fairly and independently, I left feeling that the process itself lacked the independent oversight and protections that customers should reasonably

Extremely dangerous organisation. Had to write to Secretary of State regarding this organisation making dangerous decisions that cut across legal, active and lawful commercial leases and then claim they are not legally trained, very good for scammers, not good for innocent people

Good and quick decision

The energy ombudsman have been extremely useless in the cases I raised about my energy suppliers. The recent was with Utility warehouse charging me almost £1,000 for a 2 month supply period, considering I work full time. The case worker, PG was utterly useless and didn’t acknowledge even when I pointed the energy supplier used estimated reading but he also used estimated reading. It was a complete waste of time and energy considering I’m living with disabilities.

A terrible service. Repeatedly ignored when I tried to contact my case worker. The information they used was factually incorrect and I made numerous attempts to discuss this and was repeatedly ignored. I was always polite and did not deserve this treatment. I went to the ombudsman for support and justice and found that it made a bad situation worse because of the treatment I received and the lack of communication. They even diverted my number to voice mail and I had to borrow someone else’s phone to actually get through to someone. I have to stress that I am a polite person and I just wished to speak to them. I subsequently sent 2 emails to the service which were both ignored. I wish I had not spent the time I did trying to get a resolution from the energy ombudsman. I took time off work to put everything together and now I wish I had put the time and money into seeing a lawyer. Unless your case is very straight forward I would not recommend the energy ombudsman at all because there is no attention to detail if the case is complicated (this was in relation to the electricity for a warehouse where we had rented a small box room for storage and were billed for the entire warehouse for years which came to us completely out of the blue by email one day many years later-we had a storage rental agreement which did not say we were responsible for utilities. they had already tried to bill other people over a number of years so it was not particularly straightforward).
I really needed to understand why the electric company were allowed to keep supplying electricity for all those years if no one was paying a bill and why it was not cut off. We did not go to the property often as we only kept a few unused items there and probably only ever switched a light on a few times for a few minutes in all those years. Other people had workshops there and actively used the warehouse. We are now paying for the electricity for all of those people via a debt collection agency because the ombudsman said that it did not matter that we only had a storage rental agreement that did not say we were responsible for electricity. They also said that the back billing rule does not apply. I’ve never been able to understand this. The ombudsman did not bother to reply to my phone calls or my emails. I don’t personally feel that this service is fit for purpose.

Amy Shakeshaft who dealt with our case was very thorough and found in our favour. Octopus however are totally ignoring the decision and have not adjusted the bill or given the £250 compensation. They constantly harass me and insisted I go through Paylink but until they adjust the bill, I do not know how much I owe. I know why they want me to go through Paylink its so I am locked in to their payments. I will keep on paying what I normally pay each month by debit card till they adjust the bill. I believe they have till the 15th Aug to adjust the bill. Octopus have been totally negligent and claiming we haven't sent any meter readings in, which we did and I even complained that the readings were not on the bills but I was fobbed off, saying it was a glitch. They now want us to have a smart meter put in but after the horror stories I have heard I do not want one. If you have a smart meter you are locked into whatever payments they want you to pay and if you do not pay what they want they will cut you off, remotely through the smart meter. They want to hold you to ransom. I know I will have to have one but not until they adjust the bill and we come to an agreement.

I think they did a really good job in explaining the process - I did not get the outcome I should have as I could not be bothered to continue to deal with smartest energy business or whatever those clowns called themselves but that was on me not William at the Ombudsman service

The Energy Ombudsman is completely unfit for purpose. They ignore concrete written evidence, dismiss official engineering safety codes, and completely disregard the Priority Services Register for vulnerable customers. Their case handlers lack empathy and rely on generic templates, while senior "coaches" invent hypothetical excuses to protect the supplier. They back you into a corner by ignoring messages with unfair deadlines to force a closure. A deeply cynical, lazy, and broken bureaucratic system that protects major corporations instead of holding them to account.

Our ombudsman was diligent, professional and got us a result with his decision. The solution was equitable and would not have achieved without him. I know. I tried for two years with our energy company to get the issue resolved - without success.

Until the ombudsman got involved I was going round in circles with British Gas. They set debt collectors on me and ignored everything I said. Soon as the ombudsman got involved BG contacted me and actually listened to my grievance. They then offered me compensation.

Was sexually harassed by an energy company agent - ombudsman said I deserve nothing except an apology. Second complaint I'm leaving due to the fact this company promised me they would reach out after my first review and they never did . So for all you women who have gone through something similar please don't trust them , they won't do anything to help .will leave this review every single month until someone actually bothers to contact me about this. Sham and disgraceful company. You should be ashamed.

The ombudsman is approachable and helpful. As far as I know they are the only people who can help so it is Hobson's choice. The energy company I asked for help with (OVO) paid lip service to the ombudsman's findings, got away with paying minimal compensation, then reverted to their incompetent natural behavior.

The Ombudsman was my final effort to have a long standing dispute investigated and possibly finalized.
From the minute I contacted them, I felt confident that this would be attended to. I have particular praise for Demelza Marriott who immediately put my mind at rest due to her being, Interested, Caring, Professional, Precise, Excellent Communicator, Continually updating me with developments, and much more.
I can only add, Sincere and Genuine Thanks.
To date, my complaint is not fully resolved but due to her diligence and attention to detail, I am sure it will be in the very near future.
Five star service in every way.

★☆☆☆☆

I was extremely disappointed with my experience of the Energy Ombudsman.

My complaint concerned historic energy billing before the installation of a smart meter. Throughout the process I repeatedly explained that my concern related to the period before the smart meter was fitted, yet much of the investigation appeared to focus on information after the installation.

The final decision contained a number of factual inconsistencies that left me questioning how thoroughly my case had been reviewed. For example, it stated that I wanted my bill “wiped”, which I never requested. My request was simply for a transparent review of the historic billing and a refund only if any overcharging was identified.

I also identified contradictory statements within the decision itself, inconsistencies regarding meter readings and account history, and concerns that important aspects of my complaint had not been fully addressed. Rather than analysing every issue I raised, the decision largely accepted the supplier’s explanation without providing the detailed reasoning I had expected from an independent dispute resolution service.

To make matters more frustrating, I submitted a detailed response through the case portal requesting a review, only to later discover that my case had been closed before my concerns were considered.

I appreciate that the Ombudsman has a difficult role and I found the staff polite. However, in my experience the investigation lacked the depth, accuracy and transparency I expected from an independent adjudicator.

Consumers use the Energy Ombudsman believing they will receive a thorough and impartial review. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

I had always thought of the Ombudsman as a last resort, a place where people could finally be heard, but I had never gone through the process myself. Receiving a call to help me complete the documentation and having someone guide me through each step over the phone felt almost like having a dedicated advocate helping me seek justice. Thank you Ross! Beyond the outcome being in my favor, the entire Ombudsman process was an exceptionally positive experience and far exceeded my expectations.