Background to the report

Water and energy supplies are essential for daily life and public health, and broadband services allow citizens to access a range of services in the modern economy. Yet, millions of people across the UK experience permanent or temporary circumstances that can create barriers to engaging confidently or effectively with these services. These circumstances can increase the risk of detriment to the consumer when things go wrong.

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Ofwat, Ofgem and Ofcom are the main regulators for the water, energy and broadband sectors, respectively. Each regulator has statutory duties to protect or further the interests of consumers. We reported on regulators’ consumer protection work in 2017 and 2019. We found that none of the regulators had been specific enough in defining the overall outcomes they wanted to achieve for consumers or had translated high-level aims on vulnerability into detailed objectives.

In 2019, affordability and debt were among the most common consumer challenges that regulators were seeking to address.

Scope of this report

The report examines the work done by Ofwat, Ofgem and Ofcom to ensure that residential consumers of water and energy supplies and broadband services receive good consumer outcomes, with a particular focus on the experience of consumers in vulnerable circumstances.

Some regulatory actions relate specifically to suppliers’ actions for consumers known to be in vulnerable circumstances. Other regulatory actions, for example setting minimum service standards, are intended to apply for all consumers, to ensure systems are proactive and inclusive by design. The report considers how the regulators are:

  • setting expectations for consumer experience and outcomes
  • monitoring consumer experience and communication
  • responding to challenges for customers in financially vulnerable circumstances
  • addressing barriers for customers with extra access, communication or safety needs

Video summary

Callum Parris, Analyst, summarises our findings

Conclusions

The three regulators have undertaken a wide range of actions regarding protection for consumers, and particularly consumers in vulnerable circumstances, since we last reported. The regulators have made clearer their expectations of companies in providing services to consumers. They have encouraged companies to support customers in vulnerable circumstances, and they have taken action when companies have exposed these consumers to potential harm.

Changes in the external environment mean that the need to ensure that consumers in vulnerable circumstances are protected has become more acute. Issues persist, including communication challenges, lower satisfaction among consumers in financially vulnerable circumstances, limited take-up of social tariffs, growth in customer debt, and inconsistencies in how companies address barriers to access for consumers with additional access, communication and safety needs.

While regulators in every sector have made tangible improvements, there is more for regulators to do to support consumers in vulnerable circumstances. In addition, in the absence of outcome-focused performance metrics, there is a risk that regulators continue to judge their own performance based on activities rather than consumer outcomes.

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Press release

View press release (10 Jun 2026)

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