Heat Trust's voluntary consumer-protection Scheme sets a common standard in the quality and level of customer service expected from heat suppliers. It also provides an independent process for settling complaints between consumers on our registered heat networks and their heat supplier.
Our Scheme's protections apply to domestic and micro-business consumers on heat networks that are within Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and are registered with us.
Heat suppliers need to apply to Heat Trust in order to register their heat networks. Each heat network must be registered with us individually. When joining our Scheme, heat suppliers commit to meeting our Scheme rules and requirements for that heat network. Once a heat network's successfully registered with us, all domestic and micro-business consumers on that network will benefit from our Scheme's protections.
We monitor and ensure that heat suppliers follow our standards for the heat networks they've registered with us. We have a list and a map of all our registered heat networks. If you notice or suspect any company misuing the Heat Trust logo, please let us know.
Our Scheme Information Sheet for consumers explains how Heat Trust works.
As an independent consumer champion, Heat Trust is here for your protection. We protect you by:
We set the minimum standards of service and customer care you should expect from your heat supplier to ensure you get a fair, transparent and good value service. These standards are designed to be comparable to those set by Ofgem for electricity and gas suppliers. Every heat network registered with Heat Trust is monitored and independently audited by us to check that it's following our rules.
We can help you understand your rights as a heat network consumer and what you should expect from your heat supplier in this unregulated market. Our requirements for heat suppliers cover supporting consumers in vulnerable circumstances, responding to faults and emergencies, guaranteed service payments for interruptions in supply, accurate and transparent metering and billing, and responsive complaints handling.
We make sure that you're treated fairly and that your heat supplier has a process for handling complaints. If you remain unhappy with how your supplier has responded to your complaint, we make provision for you to be able to access an independent dispute resolution service through the Energy Ombudsman. You can find more about how to make a complaint here.
For more information about our Heat Trust's standards, see here.
Heat Trust has developed a Heat Cost Calculator for use by heat network consumers. This tool allows consumers served by a heat network to get an indication of what their cost of heating and hot water would be with an individual gas boiler. You can find the Heat Cost Calculator here. Its results are indicative, for information only, and can't give an exact like-for-like comparison for any individual consumer's situation.