Heating oil refunds are being paid. Heating oil still has no price cap.

Energy bills · Buzz Money Coach reacts · 1 September 2026

Reacting to the Competition and Markets Authority press release “CMA secures compensation for heating oil customers”, published on 28 August 2026, and to MoneySavingExpert’s report of it the same day, which also confirmed the opening date of Northern Ireland’s heating oil support scheme. Every price, threshold and date below is read from the CMA case file, GOV.UK, nidirect, the House of Commons Library and the Office for National Statistics, with the arithmetic shown.

Our view

Roughly 1,700 households getting between £150 and £350 back is a fair remedy for suppliers cancelling confirmed orders and re-offering the same oil at a much higher price. That was possible because home heating oil sits outside the regulated energy market. There is no price cap, no Ofgem tariff comparison and no monthly direct debit spreading the cost of winter heating. You order a tank and pay the market price that morning, in one payment, in advance.

The House of Commons Library’s briefing Households off the gas-grid and prices for alternative fuels puts an estimated 4.8 million households in Great Britain off the gas grid in 2024 — 16.0% of domestic properties. Heating oil is the sole heating source for 3.5% of households in England and Wales and 5.1% in Scotland. In Northern Ireland it is 49.5% — about half of every home in the country. None of them are covered by the price cap, and the same briefing notes that heating a typical three-bedroom house costs around 50% more on heating oil than on mains gas.

What happened

The CMA opened a consumer protection review in March 2026 after the Israel/US–Iran conflict disrupted crude oil transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the route for roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil. Heating oil prices almost doubled inside a single month, with typical mid-month prices reaching 104 pence per litre in March and April 2026 — higher than the previous peak in June 2022, according to the Commons Library briefing Government support for the cost of heating oil.

In the middle of that, some suppliers cancelled orders customers had already placed and confirmed, mostly through intermediary comparison sites, then offered the same delivery at the new, much higher price. The CMA’s view was that this may have been a breach of contract. Suppliers under review have now agreed to compensate. Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s Chief Executive, described heating oil as “a necessity that many people rely on”.

The practical shape of the scheme, from the CMA’s case page and MoneySavingExpert’s reporting:

• You do not need to apply. The CMA states eligible customers “either have been, or will be, contacted directly”. Around 800 people had been contacted by 28 August, by email or phone.
• Two remedies. If you bought replacement oil at the higher price, you get the difference back. If you never rebought, your original order is honoured at the price you originally agreed.
• Keep your paperwork. Claims for a replacement purchase need evidence — receipts and delivery notes.
• LPG is excluded, MoneySavingExpert reports, despite similar complaints about price rises.
• The CMA has not named the suppliers taking part. There is no list to check yourself against.

What the spike did to a household budget

A 900-litre delivery is a common order size, and it is what the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland surveys alongside 300 and 500 litres.

Oil compared with capped gas

Compare that with a mains-gas household on the price cap. From 1 October 2026 Ofgem’s cap sets a typical direct debit bill at £1,723 a year, and we worked through what that means in our piece on the October cap. Two protections come attached to it: a regulated ceiling on the unit rate, and the ordinary practice of paying monthly, so October’s heating is partly paid for in June.

The oil household gets neither protection unless it spreads the cost itself, by saving monthly for the next tank.

Northern Ireland: £100, and applications open on 9 September

Half of Northern Ireland heats with oil. Details of the scheme confirmed alongside the CMA news, from nidirect:

• £100 per household, as a pre-paid virtual voucher redeemable at oil suppliers. Around 340,000 households are expected to be eligible.
• Applications open Wednesday 9 September 2026 and close 31 March 2027.
• You must use home heating oil as your main heating source, and have been a Northern Ireland resident during a qualifying period. The qualifying periods are 1–30 April 2026 and 1–30 November 2026.
• You also need either a qualifying benefit — Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related ESA, DLA, PIP, Attendance Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, or the Constant Attendance Allowance elements of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit or the War Pension Scheme — or a net annual income below £30,000 as a single person or couple, including pensioners, after tax, National Insurance and pension contributions.
• It does not affect your benefits and does not count as income on a Self Assessment return.
• Helpline 0800 072 0266 from 9 September, or ask at any Jobs and Benefits office.

At today’s 87.69p, £100 buys about 114 litres, roughly an eighth of a 900-litre tank. Note the November qualifying window: if your income or benefits change before then, for example hours cut, a benefit awarded or a partner stopping work, you may qualify on the November period even if you did not on the April one. Applications stay open until 31 March 2027, so you can re-check in December.

Great Britain: support through local crisis funds

England, Scotland and Wales got their share of the same package. On 16 March 2026 the government announced £53 million for low-income heating oil households — £27 million to England, £17 million to Northern Ireland, £4.6 million to Scotland and £3.8 million to Wales. Unlike the Northern Ireland voucher, none of it arrives automatically, and there is no national application form. It went into existing crisis funds:

• England: local councils, through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which took effect on 1 April 2026 and was topped up specifically for oil-heated areas. Find yours at gov.uk/find-local-council and ask for the Crisis and Resilience Fund by name.
• Wales: the Discretionary Assistance Fund.
• Scotland: the Scottish Welfare Fund, applied for through your council.

Discretionary funds run down over the year, so apply early.

Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week

The Winter Fuel Payment qualifying week for winter 2026 to 2027 is 21 to 27 September 2026. You qualify if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and live in England or Wales. It is paid automatically in November or December, and it is between £100 and £300 — £200 if you live alone and were born between 28 September 1946 and 27 June 1960, £300 if you were born before 28 September 1946. If your individual income is over £35,000, HMRC takes it back. Check your position at gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment. In Scotland the equivalent is the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, between £105.55 and £316.70, with confirmation letters going out from November 2026.

What to do this week

1. If you had a heating oil order cancelled between roughly March and June 2026, dig out the paperwork now. The confirmation email for the cancelled order, the invoice for whatever you bought instead, and the delivery note. The CMA says suppliers will contact you, but it will not name which ones joined the scheme, so if nothing arrives in the next few weeks, ring your supplier and quote the CMA’s heating oil consumer protection case. The CMA’s general enquiries address is on its case page.
2. Set up the oil fund. Twenty minutes: total your litres for the last year, multiply by today’s price, divide by twelve, standing order on payday into a separate pot. Our survival budget calculator shows what you can commit, and cut your bills covers where to find the money.
3. Northern Ireland: put 9 September in the diary, and December too, for the November qualifying window.
4. Great Britain: phone your council this week.
5. Anyone born on or before 27 June 1960: check the Winter Fuel Payment before the 21–27 September qualifying week, and see whether the Warm Home Discount applies to your electricity account.

If filling the tank this winter is out of reach, or last winter’s went on a credit card that is still there, deal with that first and separately. MoneyHelper, StepChange and National Debtline give free, independent debt help. Contact them first. We do not advise on debt; those three services do, for free.

What is still uncertain

First, the CMA case is still open. It was formally opened on 27 August 2026, and press reporting suggests not every supplier has signed up. The case page is where any enforcement action will appear. Second, nobody is publishing an official UK heating oil price any more: the ONS series we used above stops at January 2025, so the only current figures come from commercial suppliers and comparison sites, and the Consumer Council’s survey covers Northern Ireland only. Third, the £53 million was a one-off response to one spike. Nothing announced so far makes heating oil a capped or regulated product, and no further support has been confirmed for winter 2027. The next scheduled thing anyone can rely on is the Ofgem cap changing again for the quarter starting 1 January 2027, which does not cover heating oil.

A standing order of £65.77 a month into an account marked “Oil” spreads the cost of a tank. For other irregular bills, such as the car, insurance renewal or Christmas, see our guide to building an emergency fund.