Energy Supply - Refund of credit issue

If you pay your energy bill by direct debit, you might end up being ‘in credit’ with your supplier - this means that you will be owed money. The amount you pay each month is an estimate based on how much energy your supplier thinks you’ll use over the whole year. You’ll sometimes be owed money because you’ve used less energy than you’ve paid for. Your supplier might:

• refund any money owed to you at the end of the year; or
• pay the amount back by reducing your direct debit payments.

If it doesn't, you might want to claim back the credit.

When to claim

You can claim credit at any time. But you should probably leave money on your account during summer and autumn to cover higher energy costs in winter. Always provide your supplier with an accurate meter reading before requesting a refund.

If you are entitled to a refund and your supplier delays or fails to action your request, use Resolver to complain to your supplier.

• If you want to change any personal details, contact your supplier via Resolver and inform them of the change as soon as possible.
• Energy companies should get back to you within two working days of receiving your complaint.
• Be clear and focused when you raise an issue. Explain clearly what happened and what you want to achieve.
• All energy companies have to meet high standards of service set by industry regulator Ofgem.
• If you are unhappy with any outcome you have the right to take your case to the Energy Ombudsman (Ombudsman Services) for independent assessment. Resolver will remind you when you can escalate your case.

What next?

Once you have submitted your information to the energy company, they should acknowledge your case within two working days. Ensure you keep a copy of all communications. Resolver automatically does this for you.

What if you cannot resolve the issue?

After eight weeks you can send the case to Ombudsman Services but if the energy company sends you a 'deadlock letter' - then you can send your case file to the Ombudsman immediately. The Ombudsman Service will independently investigate your case, and resolver will remind you when you can send your case over to the Energy Ombudsman. 

You can still take your energy company to court if you do not agree with the outcome but we suggest you only use this as a last resort.

If you need to submit your issue you can use Resolver for free

Find the best rights for you

We have 5,116 pages of rights advice for you covering 10,936 companies and organisations across 16 public & private sectors. Feel free to browse companies for this specific issue - they're all listed below - but the quickest way to find the best rights for you is by using our unique Rights Finder to access our extensive database of advice.

Start by telling us the name of the company or organisation you have an issue with.