Investigations, orders and penalties
We expect regulated companies to abide by their licences and/or the requirements of relevant legislation. However, if we think licensees may be breaching any part their licence or other relevant requirements, we have the power under energy and water legislation to take enforcement action.
In particular we have the following powers:
to make an enforcement order;
and to impose a financial penalty.
If the licensee does not comply with an enforcement order and/or fails to pay a financial penalty this can be enforced through legal proceedings and/or lead to their licence being revoked.
Our Enforcement Policy Approach and Procedure and Procedure Flowchart provides information on what to expect when we start an investigation or take enforcement action. Our Financial Penalties Policy is required by law and sets out the principles and process we follow when determining whether to impose a financial penalty and the amount of that penalty.
All investigations, compliance work and enforcement action carried out by us follows our published Procedure. It offers transparency and operational certainty for industry, while allowing us to tailor the process to suit individual cases. Our Procedure also sets out details on how we will publish information related to cases under investigation.
To date, we have secured just over £1,113,000.00 in charitable donations from licensees investigated for suspected breaches of their licences and/or other applicable legislation. You can find out more on current investigations below as well as details on cases we have closed.
Open Investigations
Please note: an open investigation does not mean a company has breached licence conditions or other obligations.
Provisional Orders
Closed investigations