What is an ombudsman and how can they help?
Ever wished someone could step in and help to fix problems on your behalf? If you’re finding it hard to resolve an issue with a service provider on your own, an ombudsman could be that person.
What does ombudsman mean?
Despite the unusual name, which comes from the Old Norse word ‘umbudsman’ meaning ‘representative’, the purpose of an ombudsman is a simple one. An ombudsman is an independent official who helps consumers resolve problems.
What does an ombudsman do?
Ombudsman services offer free, fair and independent dispute resolution services. They help consumers and service providers reach a fair outcome when they have an issue.
There are several ombudsman services across Australia, including federal and state-based parliamentary ombudsmen and industry-based ombudsmen across sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, higher education, insurance and utilities.
How can the Energy and Water Ombudsman help?
At the Energy and Water Ombudsman (EWOQ), we help Queenslanders resolve disputes with their electricity and gas providers and water providers in South East Queensland.
We can help with a range of issues, including:
- billing issues
- poor customer service
- connection and disconnection issues
- credit-related complaints.
Find out more about complaints we can help with.
As with most ombudsman services, customers do need to contact their provider to give them a chance to fix the issue first.
If the customer doesn’t have any success with their electricity, gas or water provider, they can then contact us. We will listen to their problem and provide advice and information. Depending on the issue, we can refer them to someone at a higher level in their energy or water company or we can investigate the matter to ensure a fair outcome. If it’s an issue we can’t assist with, we can refer them to someone who can help.