What does ombudsman mean?
To the everyday person, an ombudsman is someone who investigates complaints.
What does an ombudsman do?
Our video explains everything you need to know about an ombudsman and what they do. There are different types of ombudsman. Ombudsman Services is one of these. What we do is help you resolve a complaint about an energy or communications provider in the UK.
Who is Ombudsman Services?
We know complaining isn't easy, so we make sure it's fair.
Ombudsman Services are here to resolve complaints about energy and communications providers in the UK.
We’re not a watchdog or a regulator so we're not here to punish anyone. Our aim is to put consumers back into the position they were in before the issue occurred. We review the evidence from both parties to find a fair resolution.
Our service is free for consumers, impartial and simple to use.
Can Ombudsman Services help with your complaint?
1. We can only deal with complaints about energy and communications providers in the UK.
Complaining about your energy supplier.
We’re approved by Ofgem, the UK gas and electricity regulator to independently handle disputes between consumers and energy suppliers.
Find out more
Complaining about your communications provider.
We’re approved by Ofcom, the UK communications regulator to independently handle disputes between consumers and communications providers.
Find out more
2. The provider has to be signed up to our scheme.
We have more than 1450 communications and 450 energy providers signed up to our scheme.
- Search for your provider here
3. You should have logged a formal complaint with your provider.
You should have logged a formal complaint with your provider and engaged with them to resolve your issue. If after 8 weeks you do not have a resolution or received a deadlock letter you can contact us.
- See how the complaints process works here
What am I likely to get if I complain?
If we decide the supplier has made a mistake, or treated you unfairly, we’ll instruct it to take action to put its mistakes right. This could include:
- A practical action. For example: apply a credit, cancel an account, apply a specified tariff.
- An apology.
- A financial award to acknowledge the difficulties encountered.
- Recommendations for the company to prevent the issue happening again.
- Or, a combination of these.