Power Cut Compensation UK: What You Can Claim in 2026

Who deals with a power cut?

Your electricity distribution network operator owns and maintains the local cables and substations. It restores network faults and makes any Guaranteed Standards payment. This is different from your electricity supplier, which sells you electricity and sends your bill.

In England, Scotland and Wales, call 105 free to reach the correct network operator. A meter fault, exhausted prepayment credit or account problem should be reported to your supplier instead. Stay well away from fallen cables and report dangerous network equipment immediately.

Power cut compensation in normal weather

For the 2026/27 regulatory year in Great Britain, a domestic customer can receive £100 when the network operator misses the normal restoration standard. If fewer than 5,000 properties are affected by one fault, the initial threshold is 12 hours. If 5,000 or more properties are affected, it is 24 hours.

After the applicable threshold, a further £45 is due for every additional 12-hour period without electricity. The £100 domestic amount and £45 additional amount apply from 1 April 2026. A large normal-weather event affecting 5,000 or more properties has a £400 total cap; Ofgem does not state that lower-volume normal-weather interruptions use that cap.

• Fewer than 5,000 properties: £100 after the 12-hour restoration limit is missed.
• 5,000 or more properties: £100 after the 24-hour restoration limit is missed.
• Either size: another £45 for each qualifying additional 12 hours.
• The network operator can confirm the number of properties and the official start and restoration times.

Worked compensation examples

Suppose a normal-weather fault affects 800 homes and your supply is not restored for 36 hours. The first £100 applies after the 12-hour limit, followed by two additional 12-hour periods at £45 each. The illustrative total is £100 + £45 + £45 = £190.

Now suppose a normal-weather fault affects 8,000 properties and lasts 48 hours. The first £100 applies after the 24-hour limit, followed by two additional 12-hour periods. That gives £190. If the same large event lasted long enough for the calculation to exceed £400, the normal-weather cap for an event affecting 5,000 or more properties would limit the payment to £400.

These examples assume the interruption qualifies and no exemption applies.

Different rules apply in severe weather

Ofgem uses network-impact categories, not the Met Office’s storm names or warnings. In a category 1 severe-weather event, the Great Britain restoration threshold is 24 hours. In category 2, it is 48 hours. Your network operator can tell you which category applied.

The 2026/27 payment is £90 when the relevant severe-weather threshold is missed, then £45 for every additional six hours without electricity. The maximum severe-weather payment is £2,235. That is more frequent additional compensation than in normal weather, but only after the longer initial storm threshold has been crossed.

Ask the network operator for the event category, recorded outage duration and payment decision.

Planned cuts and repeated interruptions

For planned electricity work in Great Britain, the network operator should normally give at least two days’ notice and carry out the interruption on the notified day. Citizens Advice says you can claim £40 if it fails either test. This claim must be made within one month of the start of the cut.

A separate £100 payment may apply if your electricity goes off four or more times between 1 April and 31 March and each interruption lasts at least three hours. Planned cuts with proper notice do not count. You must claim this repeated-interruption payment; the deadline is three months after the end of March. You cannot also use an interruption that already qualified for another power-cut payment in that year toward this payment.

How and when compensation is paid

Most qualifying unplanned-cut payments should be automatic. The network operator may pay directly or arrange a credit through your electricity supplier.

For a normal-weather interruption, Citizens Advice says the automatic payment should arrive within 10 working days. If it does not, contact the network operator: a missed payment can trigger an extra £40. For a storm payment, contact the operator if nothing arrives within four weeks after restoration.

The usual claim deadline for an unplanned electricity cut is three months. Customers on the Priority Services Register do not have that time limit.

• Write down the outage start and restoration times.
• Check whether the payment arrived directly or as an energy-account credit.
• Use the network operator’s complaints process if it refuses or miscalculates a payment.
• Escalate an unresolved Great Britain complaint through Citizens Advice or the Energy Ombudsman.

What the standard payment does not cover

Guaranteed Standards payments recognise the inconvenience of losing supply. Ofgem says they do not cover appliance or electronic damage, low voltage after a cut, or a national power-shortage blackout. Different exemptions can also apply when the network operator could not reasonably meet the standard.

If food, equipment or other property was damaged, keep photographs and receipts, check your home-insurance terms and ask the operator whether it will consider a goodwill payment. Do not present those losses as automatically covered by the fixed power-cut payment.

Priority Services Register support

The Priority Services Register can provide extra practical help during a power cut. Registration does not increase the compensation amount, but it removes the usual claim deadline for eligible unplanned electricity-cut payments in Great Britain.

Tell your network operator in advance if you rely on powered medical equipment, have communication needs or may struggle to stay safe without electricity. A register cannot guarantee an uninterrupted supply, so ask the equipment provider or healthcare professional for a suitable backup plan rather than relying on restoration estimates.

Northern Ireland has separate rules

Ofgem’s figures above apply to England, Scotland and Wales, not Northern Ireland. NIE Networks operates the electricity network in Northern Ireland and publishes live faults through Powercheck; its 24-hour helpline is 03457 643 643.

The Utility Regulator says Northern Ireland’s existing Guaranteed Standards require restoration within 24 hours in normal weather, subject to exemptions, with compensation when the standard is missed. Severe weather can currently be exempt. A July 2026 decision proposed updated protections, but those changes require implementation, so ask NIE Networks which rules and payment amounts applied on the date of your interruption rather than using the Great Britain table.

Complain to NIE Networks first if you disagree. The Consumer Council can help with an unresolved complaint, and the Utility Regulator can adjudicate certain exemption disputes.