Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Limited

Who we are

EWOV is a not-for-profit, independent and impartial dispute resolution service. We provide Victorian energy and water customers with free, accessible, informal and fast dispute resolution.

Our work

For customers with complaints, we use alternative dispute resolution processes to resolve disputes impartially, informally and quickly. We aim to make fair and reasonable decisions, taking into account the circumstances of the case, good industry practice and the law. For customers with general enquiries, we provide advice, information and referral.

From the cases we receive, we identify systemic issues and report these to the energy or water company and regulators so that they can be addressed.

We publish information about energy and water complaints, issues and trends.

We work with energy and water companies, regulators and consumer groups to drive customer service improvements and help prevent complaints.

Complaints we can and can't take

We can help to resolve most disputes between customers and electricity, gas and water companies in Victoria. We can also take complaints from people who aren't customers of the company but are directly affected by its actions.

Who we can take complaints about

EWOV can take complaints about all electricity, gas and water companies that operate in Victoria and are members of our scheme. Currently, we can't take complaints about embedded networks because they are not EWOV. However, we can tell you where else to go for help.

Issues we can take complaints about

We can take complaints or answer enquiries about most issues to do with energy and water, including:

• Billing and payment arrangements
• Payment difficulties and financial hardship
• Debt collection and credit default listings
• Energy disconnection and water restriction for non-payment
• Transfer from one energy company to another
• The connection to and provision of the energy or water service
• The energy or water supply, including issues such as water quality and outages
• Customer service
• Marketing
• Infrastructure such as meters, poles, wires and pipes
• Energy and water company activities that affect a customer's land

Issues we can't take complaints about

There are some issues that we can't take complaints about. These include:

• Energy and water prices and tariffs and how they are set (although we can help if a price is applied incorrectly)
• Government policies, legislation, licences and codes and anything specifically required by law
• Complaints that are being (or have been) considered in court
• Customer contributions to the cost of capital works
• A company's commercial activities outside of energy or water
• Events beyond the company's reasonable control
• Actions a company is directed to take to maintain security or reliability