Watchdog - Utility tables

Terry Brady from Crawley in West Sussex contacted us to say that he believes that privatised utility companies are under a statutory obligation to pay compensation if they don't provide an adequate service.

Well you know what? We've discovered that he's right.

There are a number of guaranteed standards that your electricity, gas and water companies are required by law to meet. If they let you down - they have to compensate you.

For example; if you've arranged an appointment with your gas, electricity or water provider and it doesn't show up, you're entitled to £20 compensation for every appointment it misses.

It's even the case that if you've got a query about your electricity bill and contact your electricity supplier; it has an obligation to provide a substantial response within five working days otherwise you could be entitled to a payment of £20 in compensation. Although, this particular standard only applies with certain electricity companies in certain areas (outlined in our tables below).

But if you didn't know all this then you're not the only one: Consumer Focus, who campaigns for energy customers, has told us that "it seems there is rather widespread ignorance of the standards at suppliers - many call centre workers aren't aware of them, and consumers aren't aware of them so people don't claim."

They're keen to stress that it's by no means straightforward and that some of the standards only apply in certain circumstances. However, they suggest it's a good idea that you mention the regulations and standards when contacting the companies.

These are the regulations and standards that you need to know about:

Electricity

The Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005

Gas

The Gas (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2002

Water

The Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) part of the Water Industry Act 1991. This only applies in England and Wales.

Scotland has its own set of regulations with regards to water.

Scotland's regulations are:

Water

Scottish Water's Guaranteed Minimum Services, Scottish Water, is required to submit its Code of Practice for final approval to the Water Industry Commission for Scotland under sections 26 and 27 of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 as amended by the Water Services (Scotland) Act 2005.

Northern Ireland's regulations are:

Electricity

Electricity (Standard of Performance) Regulation (NI) 1999

At present Northern Ireland does not have an equivalent for gas but this is something that both the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation and Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment are considering.

Water

The Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 allows for standards to be set which the appointed water and/or sewerage undertaker (at the moment this is Northern Ireland Water for both) must meet.

There's a process that must be followed to set these standards and any compensatory amounts that will be paid if standards are not met.

However, at present no standards have been set for Northern Ireland Water.

Each set of standards differs for electricity, gas and water. The following tables summarise what you might be entitled to with each of the utilities.

Electricity supplier

Source: Consumer Focus

In accordance with the Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005, these are the Guaranteed Standards which apply to electricity suppliers:

Standard	Service	Requirement	Payment
10	Provide substantive response to charges and payment queries *	Substantive response and agreed refund paid within 5 working days.	£20
6	Provide explanation of likely cause of meter inaccuracy	Provide probably explanation in writing within 5 working days, or offer to visit within 7 working days.	£20
7	Respond to failure of prepayment meter (this also applies to transferring debt and if the meter is taking the wrong amount of debt)	Attend within three hours on a working day (from 7am to 7pm), or four hours on any other day (from 9am to 5pm).	£20
8	Make and keep timed appointments	Arrange appointments either, morning (up to 1pm), afternoon (from 12pm) or within a 2-hour timeband and keep them.	£20
8A	Make and keep timed appointments (metering)	Arrange appointments either, morning (up to 1pm), afternoon (from 12pm) or within a 2-hour timeband and keep them.	£20
9	Make payments due under the standards	The supplier will make payment within 10 working days.	£20
9A	Make payments due under the standards (metering)	The supplier will make payment within 10 working days.	£20

*The above standards apply to all the electricity providers except the first one listed - standard 10. This only applies to consumers of the following electricity suppliers in the following areas:

Distribution Area (geographic area)	Incumbent Supplier in Region (brand)
Scottish Hydro (north Scotland)	Scottish & Southern Energy (Scottish Hydro)
Scottish Power (southern Scotland)	Scottish Power
Norweb (north West England)	E.ON
Northern (northern England)	Npower
Yorkshire	Npower
Manweb (covers north Wales and Merseyside)	Scottish Power
Swalec (south Wales)	Scottish & Southern Energy (Swalec)
SWEB (south west England)	EDF Energy
Midlands	Npower
East Midlands	E.ON
Eastern (eastern England)	E.ON
London	EDF Energy
Seeboard (south east England)	EDF Energy
Southern (southern England)	Scottish & Southern Energy (Southern Electric)

Source: Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation (NIAUR)

In accordance with the Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993 (as amended).

Summary of payment amounts that apply to Northern Ireland:

Guaranteed Standard	Timescale	Payment due on default
Replacing your main fuse	3 hours during a working day 4 hours on any other day	£25
Restoring your electricity following a fault	24 hours	£50 (domestic) £125 (non-domestic) (extra £25 for every 12 hrs electricity stays off after first 24hrs
Installing a meter and turning on your supply Keeping an appointment for the above purpose	2 working days (domestic) 4 working days (non-domestic)	£25 £50 domestic £125 non-domestic
Providing you with a cost estimate for a new electricity supply	7 working days (small jobs) 15 working days (larger jobs)	£50
Notifying you of a planned interruption in your electricity supply	3 days	£25 (domestic) £50 (non-domestic)
Dealing with a complaint about your electricity voltage	7 working days to make an appointment 5 working days to offer an explanation if a visit is not required	£25 £25 (appointment not kept)
Meter accuracy queries	7 working days to make an appointment 5 working days to offer an explanation if a visit is not required	£25 £25 (appointment not kept)
Queries about your bill and standard payments	5 working days 5 working days to make a refund if this is due	£25
Keeping an appointment	AM (8.30am - 1.00pm) or PM (12 noon - 5.00pm)	£25
Making standard payments	10 working days	£25
Dealing with a problem with your pre-payment meter	3 hours during a working day 4 hours on any other day	£25

Gas suppliers

Source: Consumer Focus

In accordance with the Gas (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005, these are the Guaranteed Standards which apply to gas suppliers:

Standard	Service	Requirement	Payment
1	Provide explanation of likely cause of meter inaccuracy or make appointment	Provide probably explanation in writing within 5 working days, or offer to visit within 7 working days.	£20
2	Respond to failure of prepayment meter (this also applies to transferring credits and ensuring the meter is taking the right amount of debt)	Will respond within four hours. On a working day this is from 8am-8pm and any other day from 9am-5pm.	£20
3	Making and keeping timed appointments	Arrange appointments either, morning (up to 1pm), afternoon (from 12pm) or within a 2-hour timeband and keep them.	£20
3A	Making and keeping timed appointments (metering)	Arrange appointments either, morning (up to 1pm), afternoon (from 12pm) or within a 2-hour timeband and keep them.	£20
4	Advise customers of payment due under the standards	The supplier will both notify the consumer and make payment within 10 working days.	£20
4A	Advise customers of payments due under the standards (metering)	The supplier will both notify the consumer and make payment within 10 working days.	£20

Water companies:

Source: OFWAT

Summary of payment amounts that apply in England and Wales: These are the minimum payment amounts. Some companies may voluntarily increase these - ask your company for details.

GSS Regulation	GSS payment		Late payment penalty
	Domestic customers	Business customers	Domestic customers	Business customers
Appointments not made properly	£20	£20	£10	£10
Appointments not kept	£20	£20	£10	£10
Incidences of low water pressure	£25	£25	-	-
Incorrect notice of planned interruptions to supply	£20	£50	£20	£50
Supply not restored(*) - initial period	£20	£50	£20	£20
Supply not restored(*) - each further 24 hours	£10	£25	£20	£20
Written account queries and requests to change payment arrangements not actioned on time	£20	£20	£10	£10
Written complaints not actioned on time	£20	£20	£10	£10
Properties sewer flooded internally	Payment equal to annual sewerage charges		£20	£50
Properties materially affected sewer flooded externally	Payment equal to 50 per cent of their annual sewerage charges		£20	£50

*Supply not restored within time notified (planned work) or when supply is interrupted for an extended time under unplanned/emergency situations.

Summary of payment amounts that apply in Scotland. (These are the minimum payment amount).

Source: Scottish Water

Standard	Automatic Payment	Claim Required	Payment Amount
Appointments - keeping appointments made more than 24hrs in advance.	Yes		£20
Planned interruptions - warn customers 48hrs in advance, supply restored within stated time - payment or failure to warn/or supply not restored at stated time.		Yes	£20 & £20 for each subsequent 12 hrs without water
Unplanned interruptions - (burst main etc) restore within 12hrs (48hrs for a large main supplying a large area).		Yes	£20 & £10 for each subsequent 12 hrs without water
Gas in water pipes - give you a call within 2hrs of reporting fault to give details of what happens next.	Yes		£20
Sewage flooding - inside your property.	Yes		Equal to annual waste water charge
Respond to invoice enquiries and charges to payment methods - respond within 5 working days.	Yes		£20
Written response to a complaint, respond within 5 working days.	Yes		£20
Water meters - applications. We will let you know of the outcome within 10 working days of your application.	Yes		£20
Water pressure investigations - supply a minimum 1 bar. Payment subsequent to our investigations confirming low pressure.	Yes		£20
Water pressure - inform you of outcome of our investigation within 5 working days.	Yes		£20

It's important to note that there are a number of other exemptions but more details of these and further information on gas and electricity standards can be found on the Consumer Focus website by typing 'guaranteed standards' into the keyword search term box.

More details on the Guaranteed Service Standards for Water and exemptions in England and Wales can be found on the Ofwat website.

More information on Standards in Scotland can be found on the Water Commission Industry Commission for Scotland website.

More information about the standards in Northern Ireland can be found on the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland website or The Utility Regulator.