Hundreds of households who rely on heating oil could be in line for compensation after suppliers cancelled orders and left prospects paying up to £350 further to keep heat.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has discovered that around 1,700 households were caught up in the chaos this spring after a sharp spike in heating oil costs triggered by turmoil in the Middle East. Many households had already agreed a price with their provider, only for deliveries to be cancelled at the last minute.
They were refunded for the authentic order but then had little alternative but to buy substitute heating oil at far larger costs – or go without fuel altogether. Some prospects were pressured to pay between £100 and £350 more than they had budgeted.
The watchdog has now secured agreements from a quantity of suppliers to compensate affected households, although it warned some companies have yet to signal up.
Under the compensation plans, prospects will either obtain a cost masking the distinction between the value of their cancelled order and the substitute supply, or have their authentic order honoured at the agreed price if they determined not to reorder.
The CMA has not yet confirmed when funds will start. It said: “A number of firms still have not agreed to compensate affected customers. We’ll be pressing them to do so and are preparing to take enforcement action if they don’t.”
The dispute erupted after battle in the Middle East despatched wholesale fuel costs hovering, inflicting heating oil costs to soar by as much as 92% at the peak of the disruption.
Figures from Sutherland Tables show the average price of kerosene climbed to £1.05 a litre in the three months to June 2026, up from 71p a litre during the earlier three months – an increase of nearly 48%.
Heating oil stays the important source of heating for around 1.7 million UK properties, notably in rural areas that are not related to the fuel grid.
Unlike fuel and electrical energy prospects, households shopping for heating oil have far fewer shopper protections because the market is largely unregulated.
The CMA said that left many prospects uncovered when costs grew to become risky and suppliers cancelled orders. It discovered households in Scotland confronted the highest average heating oil costs, while Northern Ireland had the lowest. Rural and distant communities usually pay more because there are fewer suppliers and larger supply prices.
The watchdog is now calling for ministers in Westminster and the Northern Ireland Executive to introduce stronger protections for heating oil prospects.
Its suggestions embrace minimal requirements governing price quotes and order cancellations, access to an impartial dispute decision scheme, clearer guidelines on cost plans and minimal order sizes, and a register of susceptible prospects who could obtain extra safety during provide disruptions.
The CMA said stronger safeguards were needed to guarantee households were handled pretty during future provide shocks precipitated by extreme climate or worldwide occasions.
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