As outlined on our How to make a complaint page, the first thing we do when we receive your complaint is check that you have contacted your provider and attempted to resolve your complaint yourself.
If you have not yet complained to your provider about the issue, we will provide you with their contact details.
If you have already contacted your provider, we will refer your complaint to a designated contact officer at your provider to give them the opportunity to resolve your complaint.
Under our Charter we are required to give the provider 10 business days to resolve the complaint with you before we investigate further. We will inform you of the date you can bring your complaint back to us if you remain dissatisfied.
If your complaint is not resolved within 10 business days, you can contact us again, and we will determine what further action is necessary.
We will contact your provider to see if we can facilitate a resolution to your complaint without needing to investigate it.
After attempting to facilitate a resolution, we may decide that further investigation is warranted and we will advise you that we will be investigating your complaint.
If your complaint is investigated, we contact the electricity, gas or water provider to get more information about your concerns. We may also contact you for more information.
We consider all the relevant information and make sure you have had an opportunity to tell us your side of the story. If we need to seek independent technical advice we will do so.
During the investigation, we look for opportunities to resolve your complaint by agreement between you and the electricity, gas or water provider. If you agree to a resolution, we will stop our investigation and close your complaint.
We may decide that the electricity, gas or water provider has acted fairly and reasonably and that your complaint is not substantiated. If so, we will advise you in writing that we will take no further action with your complaint.
If we find your complaint is substantiated but your provider does not resolve the complaint with you, the Energy and Water Ombudsman has the power to make a decision that is binding on the provider.