Energy Ombudsman Powers and Cheques
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The chair of Parliament’s Energy Select Committee has told Money Box it’s “vital” the Energy Ombudsman is given new, stronger powers as quickly as possible. Bill Esterson says that it is too easy for energy suppliers to simply ignore ombudsman decisions leaving consumers powerless. Energy UK, which represents suppliers, says customers have the right to expect a good service and, in the vast majority of cases, suppliers are able to work with the Energy Ombudsman to resolve cases within 28 days.
As people live longer healthier lives more and more are working longer - often well past the state pension of 66. A new analysis of HMRC data found a 12 percent rise in the number of people working past the state pension age over the past five years. What's driving that increase?
Top tips for filing your self-assessment ahead of the deadline next week.
And as the number of payments made by cheque drops, what does the future look like for their usage?
Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Jo Krasner Researcher: Haider Saleem Editor: Jess Quayle Senior News Editor: Sara Wadeson
(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 24th January 2026)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
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| 0:21.4 | She's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. |
| 0:24.5 | And now we have some unmissable updates. |
| 0:27.8 | She has money and when you have money, you have power. |
| 0:30.6 | Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:35.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:39.8 | Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. Is this the golden age of the silver economy, as more and more people are working |
| 0:45.6 | past state pension age? With barely a week to go, are you one of the three million people |
| 0:50.9 | who still hasn't filed their self-assessment tax return. |
| 0:56.6 | And when did you last use a check? |
| 1:01.0 | New figures reveal only about one in 500 payments are made that way. |
| 1:02.7 | So what is their future? |
| 1:08.5 | But first, what is the point of an ombudsman if the firms it monitors can ignore its decisions? |
| 1:09.4 | That's the question many listeners have been asking, |
| 1:11.9 | after their complaints about their electricity or gas supply were upheld by the energy ombudsman, |
| 1:17.4 | but the compensation or changes it ordered were simply not made. And their concerns have |
| 1:22.5 | been supported by the Chair of Parliament's Energy Select Committee, who believes it's vital. |
| 1:27.9 | The Energy Ombudsman is given stronger powers quickly |
| 1:30.9 | because at the moment the process is leaving customers frustrated and angry. |
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