Energy Ombudsman Avis 6 599

Case handler (Steve Cartwright) lies. Cannot be trusted. States he has no complainst against him yet I have made multiple. The EO report states British Gas provided poor service and communication yet when i asked the eo to get british gas to provide evidence they have corrected errors as my evidence shows they have not Steve stated that is not part of the service EO provides and he believes Briths gas word over the proof I provided.

Incredibly poor service from the EO. Is not impartial.

my case EG032800-26 was closed by energy ombudsman, the case worker did not give any explanation by email or by phone. not acceptable!

I sought help from energy ombudsman in the past, the services were excellent.

Prompt correspondence and timely decisio. Straightforward online process

I’m leaving this review to share my experience with the Energy Ombudsman, particularly regarding my case handled by Chris Hollis.

Throughout the process, I felt that Chris Hollis did everything in his power to rationalise British Gas’s position rather than act as an impartial third party. This included relying on figures that actually conflicted with British Gas’s own billing data, yet were still used to make their case sound plausible — despite being clearly inflated and, in my view, unrealistic.

The outcome was that the Ombudsman sided with British Gas and effectively supported a bill of over £1,000. However, what’s most telling is what happened afterwards: months later, British Gas themselves removed the all of the charges. This raises serious questions about the validity of the figures that were defended so strongly during the Ombudsman process.

To me, this felt less like an independent review and more like an extension of the supplier’s position. An Ombudsman should challenge inconsistencies and scrutinise evidence objectively — not reinforce one side using questionable data.

I would strongly encourage others in similar situations to consider alternative routes alongside the Ombudsman, as the system appears to have significant flaws, particularly when dealing with complex billing disputes involving inconsistent or conflicting data.

This experience has seriously undermined my confidence in the process.

The energy Ombudsman resolved a simple issue British Gas caused and we're unwilling to fix or pay for. BG broke my electricity meter when they came out to fit newer smart meters. They left me without gas and electricity in the middle of January for 46 hours (as a high priority customer). They then missed 2 scheduled appointments before sending an electrician out, who only gave me power back downstairs. They told me I had to arrange to fix the rest myself and withdrew their offer of £100 credit (for the inconveience). I was fuming. Upon receipt of their deadlock letter telling me they would not be providing a solution or compensation I contacted the Energy Ombudsman. The process was simple, I could check my complaint progress on the portal and BG immediately came back with an offer of £300 compensation for the inconveience when the Ombudsman contacted them.

They wasn't investigate properly they never call me and asked my side and gave decision

My experience was very positive overall. The process felt trustworthy from the outset, and communication was consistently clear and responsive. I found it reassuring to know that I could turn to the Energy Ombudsman for support, and that my complaint would be assessed impartially and fairly.
It is particularly helpful for consumers to have access to an independent body that listens, reviews evidence properly, and provides a structured route to resolution. The service gave me confidence that my concerns were being taken seriously.

Difficult to contact in the first instance.
Did not understand or investigate what my issue was. Maybe this is partly my fault because I had difficulty explaining it and using the reporting system
Tried to fob me of by taking it for granted that I did not understand how smart meters and monitors worked. In fact spent more time explaining this than truly investigating my issue with my energy supplier.
In the end had to accept some agreed compensation with the supplier and case was closed as resolved.
But it was not actually resolved as I still had problem.
I eventually solved this myself by changing to a single tariff with my supplier. This fixed my issue and my smart meter is now recording correctly and my in house monitor is showing the correct details and tariff as it should be despite the ombudsman telling me that I cannot expect that. My account statement is now correct. Unfortunately because rates have increased I am worse off as I cannot reconnect to my 2 year fix from last October and the 3 months delay in waiting for a decision from the ombudsman has further compounded this
In fact the ombudsman’s replies to me could have been written by British Gas and were completely wrong.
I should have referred this to Martin Lewis in the first place rather than asking the energy ombudsman whom I think were biased to the supplier.
This whole episode reminded my of the post office scandal where issues were not properly investigated and customers not believed

We had an issue with a very ineffective, poorly communicating, Octopus Energy.
Chris Hollis from the Energy Ombudsman dealt with the concerns quickly and efficiently. He explained the process clearly. Very satisfied.

After many issues with Utilita Energy transferring my energy supply to another supplier and a faulty smart meter. I had to go to the Ombudsman. After weeks of waiting I could not fault the professionalism of the person who took up my complaint and coming to a satisfactory outcome. Many, many thanks to the person who dealt with my complaint.

The first investigator did not look at the bills in any detail and misquoted what the supplier had told them. The supplier had offered £150 compensation but it was insufficient to make up for all the time I had to put in to contest their incorrect bills on my late mother’s estate. The ombudsman found in my favour but only awarded £100 compensation in the basis that £160 had been deleted from the bill. It hadn’t, even the supplier wasn’t saying that. Along with my wife, I spent days going through the bills and presented the Ombudsman with a spreadsheet on my appeal.
The person looking at the appeal didn’t disagree with my comments but did not increase the award to the full £260 the original assessor thought I had been given.
So, although they found in my favour, I was very unhappy with the way the original service and the appeal had been handled. It felt like the first case handler didn’t have the most basic understanding of maths or the debits and credits on the bills.
I received the second decision at 16.32 on the day of the target for a response, so it’s no surprise that it doesn’t feel properly considered. Probably someone who did not want to breach the target and thought it was more important to go home than give a fair result. It’s clear they support their colleagues even when the colleague made obvious errors. I suppose it’s good for staff morale, but not so much for complainants.
If you don’t agree with the appeal decision you either accept it or lose the award.
I believe they did not meet the disclosure requirements in disputes. They passed my evidence to the supplier but gave none of the supplier’s evidence to me. On the dashboard it looked like their had been no response from the supplier but the decision material showed that their had been communication between the supplier and the case handler. None of that had been passed to me. There were screenshots of the supplier’s account records, which would have helped me to make sense of the erroneous bills. I’ve put in a subject access request.

The member of staff who dealt with the complaint could not have been nicer and went out her way to be helpful, hence why I’ve given the review two stars rather than one.
However, they failed to address the issue saying that as the bills aren’t addressed to me, they can’t do anything, the bills are addressed to the old format of where I live hence why I’ve been receiving them. The supplier knows and acknowledges that they are not my bills so why keep sending them to an address which they know will result in them going to someone they don’t belong to. And just as important why is the ombudsman taking the appropriate action against them knowing this.
Either they don’t have the power to do anything or don’t have the will to, not sure which.

After over a year of constant battles with British gas with no resolution I had to go to the ombudsman.
It can be daunting contacting such services but I have to say my experience has been second to none.
My case worker ..Melissa was fantastic ..putting me at ease and fully explained the role of the service.
She helped me though the setting up and uploading etc .
I'm glad I took the plunge and hopefully will get a satisfactory outcome.
All in all very happy

I am currently in the process of resolving a complaint involving a supplier and the implementation of an Ombudsman decision.

I have raised a concern that one of the remedies may not have been fully implemented, and this is now under review.

At this stage, I believe it is important that the Ombudsman not only issues decisions, but also ensures that suppliers fully and transparently implement them. I will update this review once the matter is concluded

At my whits end with British Gas after a number of months.
They were trying to chase me for a tenants debt when they left the premises.
They came and disconnected the electric supply and their engineer recorded the wrong meter reading on disconnection. They then wanted to charge me for disconnection (£440) plus. threatened court action on a bill from 2 years earlier which was totally unaware of, tried to pay this but after speaking to 16 different call handlers, all hung up on me saying could not pass security checks, funnythat, the debt company they put on me soon accepted my security checks.
Said they had set up an online account and could only contact them through this, funny they then said had not set up account at all.
In bad health, Quad bypass, just lost my wife, just had Knee replacement, on medication for heart and now stress through all of this which told them during emails and constant phone calls.
Never mind thought got it all sorted in my favour, they admitted they were in the wrong ,they said had issued 3 cheques to settle, cheques never arrived so contacted Ombudsman to make complaint.
Contacted by Jennifer from same, she was brill calmed me down (am 82) talked me through process gave my evidence proved B.G. had treated me in an appalling manner all through disputes.
Well done without this help think would be in my grave with stress and worry from it literally.

Early days in the processing of my complaint but so far they have been very professional and helpful in explaining the service they provide

Completely lost faith in the Energy Ombudsman.

What should be an independent body felt anything but. Despite a large disputed balance with no proper audit trail, missing migration data, and heavy reliance on estimates, the supplier’s position was accepted with minimal scrutiny.

At every stage, it felt like the benefit of the doubt was given to the energy company, while I was expected to somehow disprove a debt that was never properly evidenced in the first place.

Serious concerns were raised and effectively brushed aside, including the impact of being pursued for thousands of pounds based on unclear and unverified figures.

It’s hard to see this as a genuinely impartial process when the outcome consistently favours the supplier despite clear evidential gaps. Very concerning for any consumer relying on this service. Never again.

I had a frustrating ongoing issue with EDF energy which was seemingly impossible for them to resolve.
Worn down by the endless futile phone calls I decided to approach the ombudsman and was very impressed with their friendly, professional approach and the detailed information provided..
I am relieved that the issue has been resolved.
It was a big plus that I could initially contact them by phone.

The Ombudsman seems a soft approach and these companies don't seem to be very afraid of ombudsman cases, the only fear real legal action and in any case within 99% of legal cases settle outside of court anyway. The supplier gaslit and smoke-screened the ombudsman throughout the entire case. I was easily able to challenge every statement and comment they made and I backed everything up with telephone recordings and transcripts (recordings I made and which weren't provided within my SAR request!). Sadly if you want a fully impartial investigation and conclusion you will not get this from the ombudsman. Yes, they still take each case seriously and they did agree with the core complaint from myself (the supplier folded last minute and made a complete U-Turn). It was an easy decision for the ombudsman once the supplier finally took some responsibility but not full accountability. My supplier increased their offer of compensation but insisted a £250 fee was still chargeable (it wasn't) so I ended up with £50 for 5 months of hell on wrong rates and 400% inflated estimated bills etc. Ultimately there was no punishment for all the lies the supplier had made over this time, the illegal unauthorised payments from my account, the failure for them to accept and implement the manual reads and photo's I provided, and they turned a cancelled £250 24 hour reconnection fee (refundable if not connected within 24 hours) to a £250 failed smart meter install 5 days later, even after trying to hand our supply back via an erroneous transfer and pretend they never accepted the contract. Basically overwhelming failures, false claims, breaching Ofgem standards and leaving me to arrange the reconnection myself with the DNO and all the ombudsman did was accept the last minute U-Turn from the supplier. I do not recommend anyone uses Valda Energy after the lies and the silence to my complaints and 5x reminders and escalation to their stage 2 as part of their complaints procedure. Truly awful. Sadly these multi million pound companies will never change and start treating customers with the dignity and respect and fairness they deserve if we have a lame Ombudsman that doesn't punish them and attempts to find a resolution which pleases both parties, instead of acting on the evidence provided. I had another case handled last year and the ombudsman agent was very good and contactable, but sadly was never able to offer me any useful advice. She handled a wrongful disconnection which lost our business £20k in sales alone over 4 weeks and involves several legal failures which is now with our solicitors and this supplier did also accept liability so it became easier for the ombudsman to reach a decision, however, my issue here lies with that the ombudsman concluded £400 compensation from a maximum of £500 which they can impose. Obviously I declined the decision as I am now seeking full compensation of £30k for the losses, damaged reputation, legal failures, deformation, ruined holiday abroad etc. How when a case is this big is the penalty not the maximum £500? I'm staggered that the ombudsman is still hesitant to impose the correct penalty, and opts for 80% the maximum compensation. Incredible, and shows the ombudsman is a soft touch and you do not get full justice or accountability. I will ensure I get this with our solicitors. Good luck everyone. I'm not surprised they have a poor rating on trust pilot, it just confirms there's many of you out there who have gone through similar experiences.