Energy Ombudsman Powers: What’s Actually Changing
Until now, winning your case with the Energy Ombudsman didn’t automatically mean getting paid. Its rulings were, in practice, a strong recommendation rather than an order a supplier had to follow. That’s the gap the government closed on 17 June 2026 (checked August 2026), when it published its official response to a consultation on strengthening the energy ombudsman powers.
The headline change is enforcement. Suppliers will face fines if they don’t comply with a ruling, and consumers will have a clearer route to take a supplier to court as a last resort if it still refuses to pay up. These are the strongest energy ombudsman powers the scheme has had since it launched, and they’re worth understanding even if you never plan to complain about anything.
Why Did the Energy Ombudsman Need Stronger Powers?
Because a ruling in your favour didn’t always translate into money in your account. The old system relied heavily on suppliers doing the right thing voluntarily once the Ombudsman had decided a case, with no direct fine for dragging their feet or simply not paying. For most suppliers that worked fine. For the ones it didn’t, there was little beyond reputational pressure to make them follow through.
The government’s own consultation response framed this as a fairness gap. If a decision is made in a customer’s favour, that customer shouldn’t have to fight a second battle just to see the redress actually land. Weak energy ombudsman powers, in other words, were quietly undermining the whole point of having a free complaints scheme in the first place.
This has been building for a while too. Complaints about slow or unpaid redress have been a recurring theme in consumer reporting for years, and the consultation itself grew out of that pressure rather than appearing out of nowhere.
What New Powers Has the Energy Ombudsman Been Given?
Key takeaways
- The Ombudsman can now fine suppliers that fail to comply with a ruling.
- Consumers get a clearer route to take a supplier to court as a last resort.
- The Ombudsman is being given statutory standing in legislation, so its decisions carry more legal weight.
- Suppliers face an explicit obligation to actually implement rulings, not just acknowledge them.
Beyond the fining power, the government is designating the Energy Ombudsman in legislation for the first time, giving its decisions statutory weight rather than leaving them as an industry scheme suppliers sign up to voluntarily. That’s a meaningful shift in how much legal force a ruling actually carries, and it’s the part of the new energy ombudsman powers most likely to change supplier behaviour long term, more than the fines themselves.
Will Complaints Be Resolved Faster Too?
Yes, at least that’s the plan. The Ombudsman has been asked to cut the time it takes to issue a decision from six weeks down to four, which shaves roughly a month off the overall complaints journey for anyone going through the process. Whether every case hits that new target in practice is something worth watching rather than assuming from day one.
None of this changes the free, no cost nature of using the Ombudsman. Faster decisions with real enforcement behind them is the aim, not a more complicated or expensive process for the person making the complaint.
It’s also worth being realistic about timing. Targets like this tend to be phased in gradually rather than hitting every case from the first day of the new rules, so treat four weeks as the direction of travel rather than something you can hold a supplier to immediately.
What This Means If You’re Currently Mid Complaint
If you already have a live case with the Energy Ombudsman, these energy ombudsman powers are being phased in rather than landing all at once, so don’t assume your existing complaint is instantly covered by every new power on day one. It’s still worth knowing they exist, especially the fining power, if a supplier drags its feet on paying out a decision already made in your favour.
If you haven’t complained yet and think you have a case, our guide to the energy ombudsman complaint process walks through how to raise one, and our wider guide to energy consumer rights covers the other protections Ofgem enforces alongside it. Between the two, the practical process hasn’t changed much day to day, what’s changed is what happens if a supplier tries to ignore the result.
Read the government’s own consultation response if you want the detail behind the new energy ombudsman powers rather than a summary of it. It sets out the full timetable for designation in legislation, alongside the reasoning for cutting decision times.
Frequently asked questions about the Energy Ombudsman’s new powers
- What are the new energy ombudsman powers?
- The power to fine suppliers that don’t comply with a ruling, a clearer route to court as a last resort, and statutory standing in legislation, confirmed by the government on 17 June 2026.
- When do the new energy ombudsman powers take effect?
- The government confirmed the changes on 17 June 2026, but designation in legislation and the full rollout are being phased in over time rather than landing all at once.
- Does this mean my complaint will be free?
- Yes, using the Energy Ombudsman remains free for consumers. These changes are about enforcement and speed, not introducing any cost to complain.
- How much faster will decisions be?
- The Ombudsman has been asked to cut decision times from six weeks to four, roughly a month off the overall process, though this is a target rather than a guarantee for every case.
- What could I do before if a supplier ignored a ruling?
- Options were limited, mostly reputational pressure on the supplier, since there was no direct fine for non compliance under the old system.
- Do these new energy ombudsman powers apply to broadband or mobile complaints too?
- No, this specific change applies to the energy sector. Broadband and mobile complaints go through a separate ombudsman scheme with its own rules.
