Complaints we can and cannot take

We can take complaints about all electricity, gas and water companies that operate in Victoria and are members of our scheme. This includes complaints about embedded networks.

We can take complaints or answer questions about most electricity, gas and water billing issues, including:

• under and overcharging on your electricity or gas bill, also known as backbilling
• checking concessions and grants are correctly applied to your bill
• investigating billing mistakes, such as charges on bills, missing solar credits, being billed for the wrong tariff, or missed payments
• investigating high electricity, gas or water bills
• if you are having trouble paying for your electricity, gas or water bills, checking how your energy company has helped you
• looking into problems with payment plans
• checking whether credit default listings have been correctly lodged
• making sure companies follow the rules around debt collection activity
• checking if the wrong charges and tariffs have been applied to your account.

We can take complaints or answer questions about a number of electricity, gas and water service issues, including:

• looking at whether your energy company followed the rules if it disconnected or restricted your supply (if not, you could be entitled to a Wrongful Disconnection Payment)
• working out if you may be entitled to compensation if you have water in your gas pipes, or experience an unplanned electricity, gas or water outage
• delays with new electricity or gas connections
• delays in transferring from one gas or electricity company to another
• looking into when things go wrong with electricity and gas energy service orders
• transfer of the wrong meter, or your meter incorrectly recording your usage
• problems with poles, wires and pipes, including issues with placement and tree roots
• issues with estimated bills, when your company cannot access your electricity, gas or water meter
• problems with energy or water supply, including issues such as water quality and outages
• making sure electricity and gas companies follow the marketing rules
• some solar power issues, such as problems relating to your electricity account, missing credits, connection issues and metering
• issues with how your electricity, gas and water company handled your privacy
• some ‘bulk hot water’ complaints, such as billing and payment difficulties
• some aspects of cost of capital contribution complaints
• looking at how our members of our scheme have exercised statutory rights in relation to land access and use
• customer service
• embedded networks, including what to do if you are in an embedded network and want to switch retailers.

There are some issues that we can't take complaints about. These include:

• solar complaints related to solar retailers and solar panel installation companies
• energy and water prices and tariffs and how they are set (although we can help if a price is applied incorrectly)
• Government policies, legislation, licences and codes and anything specifically required by law
• complaints that are being (or have been) considered in court
• customer contributions to the cost of capital works
• a company's commercial activities outside of energy or water
• events beyond the company's reasonable control
• actions a company is directed to take to maintain security or reliability.

We have more information about complaints we can and cannot take in our Charter.