Power cut compensation: what you're owed and how to claim

You may be owed money — often automatically

Under the Guaranteed Standards of Performance, which Ofgem sets and the law enforces, your electricity network operator has to pay you when a power cut runs long, and in most cases the payment arrives without you doing anything. It doesn't always, though, and the amount steps up the longer you're off, so it's worth knowing what you're entitled to.

Quickest way to check: work out what you're owed with our power cut compensation calculator. It shows the working line by line, who pays and the date you need to claim by.

One thing to get straight first: this compensation comes from your Distribution Network Operator (DNO), the company that runs the wires in your area, not from the supplier you pay your bill to. In England, Scotland and Wales you can reach your DNO by dialling 105, free from any phone. Northern Ireland has its own network operator and its own rules (see the last section).

Normal power cuts — the amounts

For a normal power cut (not caused by severe weather), the thresholds depend on how many homes and businesses lost power in the same fault. If fewer than 5,000 premises are off, your DNO must pay a domestic customer £100 if the supply isn't restored within 12 hours, and then a further £45 for each additional 12 hours off, with no cap. If 5,000 or more premises are affected, the payment is £100 if you're not back on within 24 hours, then £45 for each further 12-hour period, up to a total cap of £400.

These are the figures that took effect on 1 April 2026 (they're uprated for inflation each April). The hours count from when your network operator knew your power was off, so if a cut only affects your street or your home, report it on 105 straight away. A long, localised outage genuinely adds up, and it's compensation for the disruption, separate from anything to do with your bill.

Storms follow different rules

Severe weather is treated separately, and understanding why stops it feeling unfair. In a storm, events are categorised by how many faults the weather causes on the network's high-voltage lines in 24 hours, compared with its normal daily average. A Category 1 storm causes at least 8 but fewer than 13 times the usual number of faults (a storm that is mainly lightning is always Category 1); a Category 2 storm, the most extreme, causes 13 times or more. Each network operator sets the category for its own area, and it isn't the Met Office warning colour. If the weather doesn't reach Category 1 on your network, the normal rules above apply.

For a Category 1 storm, the payment is £90 if your supply isn't restored within 24 hours, then £45 for each further 6-hour period, capped at £2,235 per event. For a Category 2 storm, that £90 only kicks in once you've been off for 48 hours, then £45 per further 6 hours, with the same cap. So the worse the storm, the longer before payments start — which reflects that the networks are dealing with widespread, hard-to-reach damage, not sitting on their hands.

Repeated cuts — and how to actually claim

There's also cover for repeated outages: if your home suffers four or more separate power cuts, each lasting at least three hours, within a single regulatory year (1 April to 31 March), you're owed £100. This one is never automatic. Claim it by 30 June after the year ends, with your address and the dates of each cut. Planned cuts you were warned about, and cuts that earned their own payment, don't count towards the four.

Most other payments are automatic. Once your network operator knows it owes you, it has 10 working days to pay, and if it misses that it owes you a further £40 for the late payment. Storm payments only have to be made "as soon as reasonably practicable", so there's no fixed deadline for those. If nothing arrives, claim within three months of your power coming back on: after that, the network no longer has to pay if it couldn't identify you or you didn't claim (there's no time limit if you're on the Priority Services Register). For planned work, the network must give you at least two days' notice of the day; if it doesn't, or cuts you off on a different day, claim £40 within one month. Keep a note of when a cut started and ended.

What else your network may do in a long cut

Separately from the compensation above, electricity networks can send practical help when a cut drags on. This isn't part of the Guaranteed Standards, so it isn't set by Ofgem and varies by network: some decide case by case and tell you at the time, and SP Energy Networks publishes set amounts you can claim afterwards. If a cut is running long, ask when you call 105, and keep receipts for anything you pay for.

SSEN, the network for the north of Scotland and central southern England, says it sends welfare units to areas where a cut is prolonged or many vulnerable customers are affected, and sometimes parks a food truck in a central spot serving hot food and drink. Where a welfare unit isn't possible, it may offer to reimburse food and drink for your household. If it expects your power to take several days to restore, it may advise you to find somewhere else to stay, and in exceptional circumstances it will offer to cover reasonable costs.

SP Energy Networks, which covers central and southern Scotland and Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and North Shropshire, publishes set amounts. If your power is off for more than 12 hours you can claim £10 per person per meal, for up to four people, which it puts at up to £120 a day, with no receipts needed. If you arrange your own hotel, it pays up to £200 per room per night plus £45 per person per day for meals, and needs an itemised PDF receipt. It says it can't reimburse spoiled food, which your home insurance may cover. Claim by phone once your power is back: 0800 092 9290 in central and southern Scotland, 0800 001 5400 in Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and North Shropshire.

UK Power Networks, which covers London, the East and the South East of England, says people on its Priority Services Register can get tailored support such as home visits and hot meals, and in certain scenarios a free hotel overnight with transport there. For complex power cuts, it says, its community welfare teams provide on-site support with hot drinks, hot meals, wifi and charge points. Other networks set their own policies, so ask yours, and joining the Priority Services Register tells your network you may need this help.

Northern Ireland is different

In Northern Ireland the network operator is NIE Networks, and the payments are lower and never automatic. If your power isn't back on within 24 hours you're due £50 for a home, then £25 for every further 12 hours, but only if you claim within one month of the day of the cut. For planned work it must give you three days' notice or pay £25.

In severe weather, when faults on its high-voltage network run at more than 13 times normal, NIE Networks can apply an exemption and pay nothing, which is why no payments were due after Storm Éowyn in January 2025. In July 2026 the Economy Minister asked officials to bring forward proposals to remove that exemption; until the rules change, it stands. To report a power cut in Northern Ireland, call 03457 643643.