Six things to look for in your own contract and bills
Before speaking to anyone, you can get a long way with the paperwork you already hold. Here is what is worth checking.
Practical guidance · 18 June 2026
You do not need a specialist to do the first pass. Pull the file for each energy contract signed in the last six years and work through the following.
1. Was a broker or intermediary involved at all?
If you dealt directly with the supplier, with no third party in between, there is no broker commission to recover. Look for a third-party name on the quote, the covering emails, or the letter of authority.
2. Is there a letter of authority?
Brokers usually require one, authorising them to approach suppliers on your behalf. Its wording matters. A letter of authority appointing a broker to act for you and search the market on your behalf supports the argument that the relationship carried duties of loyalty and disclosure.
3. Does anything state what the broker earned?
Look for a figure, a rate, a pence-per-kWh uplift, or a percentage. A vague statement that the broker "may receive a commission from the supplier" is not the same thing as being told what you were paying. The distinction is central.
4. What does the unit rate actually say?
Note the contracted rate per kWh, the standing charge, the contract start date and its term. You will need all four to quantify anything.
5. What did the broker say about how it was paid?
Emails and notes from the sales conversation are often more useful than the contract. A broker that described its service as free, or as costing you nothing, while earning an undisclosed uplift built into your rate, is a materially different case from one that explained the arrangement.
6. Do you have the annual consumption figures?
Your annual statement or a year of bills will give you the kWh. Without consumption, no loss can be calculated.
What you cannot establish yourself
The rate the supplier offered before the broker's uplift was added. That figure sits with the supplier and the broker, not with you, and obtaining it is normally the first substantive step in a claim.
If items 1, 2 and 5 point one way and item 3 turns up nothing, it is worth having the file looked at properly.