Live data · since 29 Sep · updated 21 Oct, 16:25
Who may be owed for a power cut
At least this much in first payments may be due, for homes the networks still listed off past 12 hours, from 302 cuts in 23 days. Most of it should be paid automatically.
Ofgem's guaranteed standards say your network owes you £100 if your power is off for more than 12 hours, and £45 for every 12 hours after. Ofgem says the network pays this automatically, so the job is checking it arrived. These are the cuts where the networks' own figures still showed homes off past that point.
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Where the most homes were cut off
By council, homes still off past 12 hours. A cut that crossed a council boundary counts in each.
| Council | Homes | At least | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bracknell Forest GU47 RG10 RG12 SL4 … | 538 | £53,800 |
| 2 | East Lindsey DN37 LN8 LN11 | 309 | £30,900 |
| 3 | Swindon SN4 SN5 SN25 | 285 | £28,500 |
| 4 | Durham DH4 DL16 TS21 | 237 | £23,700 |
| 5 | North Somerset BS22 BS24 BS49 | 234 | £23,400 |
| 6 | North Tyneside NE29 | 207 | £20,700 |
| 7 | East Devon EX2 EX4 EX8 EX11 … | 192 | £19,200 |
| 8 | Doncaster DN6 | 172 | £17,200 |
| 9 | Basingstoke and Deane RG7 RG21 RG26 SO21 … | 158 | £15,800 |
| 10 | South Oxfordshire OX49 RG8 | 154 | £15,400 |
| 11 | Cotswold GL6 GL8 SN16 | 152 | £15,200 |
| 12 | Rugby CV21 NN11 | 150 | £15,000 |
The biggest cuts
The bar is the shortest the power can have been off. Payments start past 12 hours (24 hours if 5,000 or more homes are off).
Long cuts by day
Cuts with homes still off past 12 hours, by the day they started.
By network
Homes still off past 12 hours.
Check you've been paid
- Check whether it's arrived. Ofgem says the network pays automatically; once it knows it owes you, it has 10 working days to pay.
- If nothing arrives, contact the network that runs the cables in your area (not your energy supplier) within 3 months of the power coming back on: after that it no longer has to pay if it couldn't identify you. If you're on its Priority Services Register, that limit doesn't apply.
- Only the network can confirm what it pays. If it pays a fault payment late (after 10 working days), it owes you a further £40.
- UK Power Networks: 0800 029 4285
- Northern Powergrid: 0800 011 3332
- National Grid Electricity Distribution: 0800 096 3080
- SSEN: 08000 483 515 (north of Scotland) or 08000 483 516 (central southern England)
Power cut compensation: the rules
How much compensation do you get for a power cut?
Under Ofgem's guaranteed standards for 2026/27, your network operator pays £100 to a home whose power is off for more than 12 hours, and £45 for every further 12 hours, with no cap. Where 5,000 or more homes and businesses are off from the same fault, the first payment comes after 24 hours and the total is capped at £400.
Does a storm change the rules?
Yes. If the network classes the storm as a severe-weather event, the payment is £90 after 24 hours (Category 1) or 48 hours (Category 2), then £45 for every 6 hours, capped at £2,235. The network decides the category from its fault numbers, not the Met Office warning colour.
Do I have to claim, and by when?
Usually not: Ofgem says the network pays automatically after a long cut in normal weather. If nothing arrives, claim within 3 months of the power coming back on, because after that the network no longer has to pay if it couldn't identify you. If you're on your network's Priority Services Register, that 3-month limit doesn't apply. The network that pays is your distribution network operator, not your energy supplier.
What if I've had lots of shorter cuts?
Four or more cuts of 3 hours or more at your home in one year (1 April to 31 March) can mean a further £100. You claim it by 30 June after the year ends.
How we count: a cut counts only when the shortest the power can have been off, from the network's own start and restore times, is past the threshold, and the network's own count still showed homes off at that point. Networks reconnect homes in stages, so the homes are those still listed off at the threshold, not the most ever listed off; where a job showed homes off long after its stated start, we time it from when it first did. Another 448 cuts may also count but the times can't settle it, so they're not in these figures. "At least" is the first payment the rules give, times those homes, with no later payments counted. Faults only: planned work counts only if you weren't given notice, which only you know. Corrected on 16 October 2026: our first version counted every home a cut ever listed off, which overstated the homes and the money about fourfold. 3 cuts were listed across three or more postcode areas, so they're in the totals but not on the map or the table. SP Energy Networks doesn't publish how many homes a cut reaches, so its cuts aren't in the homes or the money: 13 of its cuts since 14 October 2026 may have run past the payment point. Figures cover UK Power Networks, Northern Powergrid, National Grid and SSEN from 29 September 2026; SP Energy Networks from 14 October 2026 and Electricity North West from 14 October 2026. Amounts are Ofgem's for 2026/27. Source: each network's open data (CC BY 4.0 and network open data licences); postcode districts from postcodes.io (ONS, OGL). Not legal advice.
Know the moment the power goes off at your home
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