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 electricity or gas 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 either 12 or 24 hours to restore supplies. How long that takes depends on how many homes are affected by a single fault.

Power cut to less than 5,000 homes

If you are cut off for 12 hours or more, you can claim £95 as a domestic customer or £180 as a non-domestic customer.

You can get a further £40 for each additional 12 hours of being off supply.

Power cut to more than 5,000 homes

If you are cut off for 24 hours or more, you can claim £95 as a domestic customer or £180 as a non-domestic customer.

You can get an extra £40 for each additional 12 hours of being without electricity, up to a total of £360.

If you are cut off more than four times in a year for at least three hours each time, you can claim an extra £95 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.

Storm category 1

You can get £85 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 £85 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

If you have been given less than 7 day's notice from your network operator about your gas supply going off, you can claim £50 as a domestic customer. It’s £120 for non-domestic customers.

If your gas supply goes off and this is not planned, you can claim £70 as a domestic customer and £120 as a non-domestic customer for every 24 hours the gas is off.

You can claim more if your gas is off for more than 24 hours. The amount increases depending on how long your gas supply is off.

If your household is registered with your network’s Priority Services Register, you can get extra support if your gas supply goes off. You are entitled to extra compensation if your network supplier does not provide you with extra services. Read how to plan for a power cut.

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 your gas or electricity supplier.

Our role

We want supplies restored quickly if problems occur. 

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

We take action if we think companies are not meeting their obligations to customers.