Microbusiness

A microbusiness is an Ofgem-defined customer category for the smallest non-domestic energy customers, with specific protections under the Standard Licence Conditions. A customer qualifies as a microbusiness if they meet any one of the following thresholds:

• Fewer than 10 employees (full-time equivalent), and annual turnover or balance sheet under €2 million; or
• Annual electricity use under 100,000 kWh; or
• Annual gas use under 293,000 kWh.

Microbusiness protections include:

• Mandatory written contract-end notification between 49 and 1 days before any renewal anniversary.
• The right to terminate a rollover contract with 30 days' notice.
• The 12-month back-billing protection.
• The right to escalate disputes to the Energy Ombudsman after eight weeks of unresolved supplier complaint.
• Specific transparency requirements on intermediary commission disclosure.

The status is asserted by the customer and must then be honoured by the supplier; suppliers are under a duty to ask customers about microbusiness status when entering or renewing a contract, but in practice the protections are routinely under-applied where the customer does not affirmatively claim them. Asserting microbusiness status formally on day one of any engagement is one of the highest-leverage steps in protecting a small business's utility position.