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At Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE Networks), we are committed to providing a first-class service and value for money to all our customers through our customer charter. We also operate to guaranteed standards and overall standards of performance for our customers. These help us address customer issues and queries as quickly as possible. We do our best to meet or exceed these standards.


Guaranteed Standards

If we fail to meet any of our eleven guaranteed standards below, we are committed to compensating you for any inconvenience caused.

In situations outside of our control, such as in the case of severe weather, these standards may not apply.

  1. Your main fuse - we will call to replace the main fuse within 3 hours on a working day or 4 hours on other days. If not you will receive £25.
  2. Turning your power back on - we will restore your electricity within 24 hours of a power cut. If not you will be due £50 for your home /£125 for business premises, then £25 for every 12 hour period after that. You must make a claim within 1 month of the day of the interruption.
  3. Installing a meter to give you an electricity supply - we will install a meter within 2 days at your home or within 4 days at your business. If not you will be due £25.  If we don’t keep an agreed appointment you will receive £50 or £125 for other premises.
  4. Getting a quote for your new connection - we will get a quote to you within 7 working days if your connection is a small job or 15 days if it’s a larger job. If we don’t you will receive £50.
  5. Taking your electricity supply off - we will let you know at least 3 days before if we need to temporarily interrupt your supply. If we don’t you will be due £25 for your home address or £50 for business premises.  You must make a claim within 1 month of the day of the interruption.
  6. If you have a voltage issue - we will let you know within 5 days what we intend to do about it or within 7 days if we need to visit your premises to investigate further. If we don’t contact you or don’t keep an agreed appointment you will receive £25.
  7. If there’s something wrong with how your meter is recording - we will let you know within 5 days what we intend to do about it or within 7 days if we need to visit your premises to investigate further. If we don’t contact you or don’t keep an agreed appointment you will receive £25.
  8. Queries about a payment due under our standards - we will answer your query within 5 working days and if needs be make a payment to you within 5 working days. If we don’t you will receive £25.
  9. Keeping our appointments - we will keep our agreed morning or afternoon appointments. If we don’t you will receive £25.
  10. Making a payment to you - we will send a cheque to you within 10 working days if we have failed any of our guarantees to you. If we don’t you will receive £25.
  11. If you have a problem with your prepayment meter - we will call to investigate a problem with your prepayment meter within 3 hours on a working day or 4 hours on other days. If we don’t you will receive £25.

Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns regarding our standards and guarantees.


Exceptional Events

Sometimes, due to circumstances outside our control, it is not possible to carry out work within the normal timescales.

For example, extreme weather conditions may cause significant damage to the electricity network or create access difficulties.

The legislation behind the guaranteed standards recognises exceptional events and allows for exemptions to be applied, which means that no guaranteed standard payments would be due.