Compensation for a delayed energy switch or late final bill

Energy switching in the UK runs on a set of fixed deadlines, and when a supplier misses one it owes you a payment. The main figure is £40. You are owed £40 if you are switched without your permission or by mistake, or if your switch is not completed within five working days after the 14-day cooling-off period ends¹. You are owed £40 if your final bill takes longer than 6 weeks to arrive, and another £40 if that compensation is not paid within 10 working days².

These are automatic payments, not something you claim. The supplier is expected to send the money once the deadline has passed. If it does not, a further £40 is added, and the case can go to the Energy Ombudsman, which can order the company to put things right³.

This page sets out what triggers each payment, how the money reaches you, where the scheme does not apply, and how to escalate a complaint that goes nowhere.

Automatic compensation when an energy switch goes wrong

The guaranteed standards cover a small number of specific failures, and each one carries the same £40 figure. The first is a switch that is not completed within five working days after the 14-day cooling-off period ends. Switching should happen within 5 days of that cooling-off period, so the whole process normally takes about three weeks⁵. Before 1 April 2024 suppliers had 15 working days to complete a switch, and only those signed up to the Energy Switch Guarantee were covered; the deadline is now tighter and applies across the board¹.

The second trigger is being switched without your permission or by mistake. That is treated as a failure in its own right and attracts £40¹.

There are further £40 payments for slow handling. You can get an extra £40 if your supplier fails to send compensation you are entitled to within 10 working days, if the supplier takes more than 20 working days to reply to you after you tell them about a switching mistake, if the old and new suppliers take more than 20 working days to decide whether the switch was correct (in which case you get £40 from each), or if the supplier takes more than 21 working days to re-register the supply after finding out about the mistake⁶.

The pattern is deliberate: the first payment covers the original failure, and the extra payments cover the supplier's failure to fix it promptly. In a straightforward case where the switch simply runs late, one £40 payment is owed. In a case where the supplier then goes quiet, the total can build up.

Late final bills and late credit refunds

When you leave a supplier, two things have to happen: a final bill has to be produced, and any credit balance on the account has to be returned. Both have deadlines attached.

Your supplier must send your final bill within 6 weeks. If it takes longer than 6 weeks to get the bill, you automatically get £40 in compensation from them². If that compensation is not paid within 10 working days, they pay you another £40².

The credit balance is separate. Suppliers are expected to refund a credit balance within 10 working days of the final bill⁵. If they do not pay it back in time, they owe you an extra £40 in compensation².

If you are chasing money from a supplier you have already left, it is worth checking whether the credit is sitting with a previous supplier rather than the current one, because the refund obligation sits with whoever held the account².

When compensation is paid and how it reaches you

These payments are automatic. You do not apply, and there is no form. Once a deadline has passed, the supplier owes the money and is expected to send it.

The amounts stack in a defined order. If the switch is not completed within five working days, you are owed £40 compensation from your new supplier¹. If the final bill takes longer than 6 weeks, you get £40 from the supplier that owes you the bill². If you are not compensated within 10 working days, you get another £40⁵. The same extra £40 applies where a supplier fails to send compensation within 10 working days, takes more than 20 working days to reply, or where the two suppliers take more than 20 working days to decide whether the switch was correct, in which case each pays £40⁶.

In practice the money usually arrives as a credit on your energy account or as a payment to your bank, depending on how the supplier handles it. If you are owed money by a supplier you have left, it should still be paid to you rather than absorbed into a new account.

Where automatic compensation does not apply

The guaranteed standards are narrow. They cover switching failures, late final bills and late credit refunds. They do not cover every delay or every problem.

Some exclusions are specific to other schemes and worth knowing about because they show the pattern. Missed appointment compensation does not apply if your home is not suitable for a smart meter⁸. Under the Green Deal, if a complaint is not resolved within 8 weeks of contacting your provider, you contact either the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Energy Ombudsman⁹. The Financial Ombudsman Service expects a company to get back to you within 15 days, either with a response or to explain why it cannot yet give one, and to send a final response within 35 days, after which you can bring the complaint to the ombudsman¹⁰. If you do take a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, you need to do so within 6 months from the date on your final response¹¹.

The practical point is that different problems sit under different schemes with different deadlines. A switching delay is covered by the automatic payments described above. A dispute about a bill's accuracy, a meter fault or a tariff change is not, and has to go through the supplier's complaints process instead.

Complaining to your supplier and the Energy Ombudsman

If the money does not arrive, the route is a complaint to the supplier first, then the Energy Ombudsman. You can complain to the Energy Ombudsman about a billing or transfer problem, but you must complain to your supplier first⁷. The ombudsman can investigate your complaint further and may contact the company to get them to compensate you or put the issue right³.

The timing rules matter. You can take a complaint to the ombudsman after eight weeks, or sooner if you have been sent a deadlock letter with your supplier's final response and you are still not happy¹². You must send your complaint to the ombudsman within 12 months of receiving the deadlock letter or final response from your supplier⁴. If the ombudsman takes up your case, you get their decision within 6 to 8 weeks².

The eight-week wait has been criticised. Consumer Scotland has said the existing waiting time of 8 weeks is too long, and agrees with shortening the waiting time before a consumer can refer their complaint to the Energy Ombudsman to 4 weeks, with exceptions¹³. That is a recommendation, not the current rule, so the eight-week figure still applies unless your supplier issues a deadlock letter sooner.

If you are struggling to pay while a complaint is running, it is worth asking your supplier what it can do. Suppliers can delay a bill, remove late payment charges, or allow you to pay over a longer period¹⁴.