Citizens Advice and the Extra Help Unit share several responsibilities to advocate on behalf of energy consumers throughout Great Britain and we take that role seriously. Those responsibilities include:

• Representing consumer interest to businesses, regulators, governments and policy makers

• Working with others outside the regulatory framework to create workable solutions to consumer problems

• Gathering evidence from service providers where regulations have been breached or detriment has been caused to consumers

The pages in this section outline how we can meet our obligations and work together with suppliers to deliver the best outcomes for energy consumers.

Whilst some of our statutory duties extend to the post sector, postal complaints take up less than 1% of our caseload.

Our statutory duties

Under Section 12 of the CEAR Act we have powers to investigate complaints on behalf of vulnerable consumers. Under the CEAR Act a person is considered vulnerable if it is not reasonable to expect that person to pursue the complaint themselves. 

Under Section 13 of the CEAR Act we have duties to investigate complaints involving disconnection or threat of disconnection. This includes refusal to reconnect a supply as well as prepayment meter failure.

Under Section 14 of the CEAR Act we have obligations to provide complaint information to Ofgem.

Section 24 of the CEAR Act empowers us to obtain information from energy suppliers to investigate complaints.