Ofgem protects customers of Tomato Energy

PRESS RELEASE  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Ofgem protects customers of Tomato Energy 

Tomato Energy has today announced it is ceasing to trade.   

Tomato Energy supplies around 15,300 domestic customers, and 8,400 non-domestic customers.  

Under The Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) safety net, customers’ energy supply will continue and funds that domestic customers have paid into their accounts, including existing credit balances, will be protected. Domestic customers will also be protected by the energy price cap when being switched to a new supplier. 

Customers of Tomato Energy will be contacted by their new supplier, which will be allocated by Ofgem in the coming days. 

Ofgem’s advice to affected customers in the meantime is to: 

• Wait until a new supplier has been appointed and you have been contacted by them in the following weeks before looking to switch to another energy supplier. 

• Take a meter reading ready for when your new supplier contacts you. 

This will make the process of transferring customers over to the chosen supplier and honouring any funds that domestic customers have paid into their accounts, where they are in credit, as smooth as possible. 

Since the energy crisis, Ofgem has strengthened the rules so that suppliers are more resilient to shocks and less likely to fail. Suppliers must have capital to cover their risks and ring-fence certain aspects of their finances such as customer credit balances.  

As a result, the market is becoming much more resilient, however some companies will still fail occasionally. The SoLR safety net ensures affected customers face as little disruption as possible.   

Rohan Churm, Director for Financial Resilience and Control, said: 

“I want to reassure Tomato Energy customers that they do not need to worry. They will not see any disruption to their energy supply, and any credit domestic customers have on their accounts remains protected under Ofgem’s rules. 

“We are working quickly to appoint a new supplier for all existing customers, and they should not switch in the meantime. Once appointed, a new supplier will be in touch with further information.    

“We have worked hard to improve the financial resilience of suppliers in recent years, implementing a series of rules to make sure they can weather unexpected shocks. But like any competitive market, some companies will still fail from time to time, and our priority is making sure consumers are protected if that happens and that any associated costs are minimised.” 

ENDS 

Notes to editors 

• Tomato Energy customers should take meter readings today and wait until their new supplier contacts them. Once they have been contacted, customers can ask to be put on their new supplier’s cheapest deal or look for an alternative deal from another supplier. They will not be charged exit fees for switching away from their new supplier. 

• Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) safety net will make sure customers energy supply will continue as normal, domestic customers’ credit balances of funds they have paid in are protected and that the process in moving over to the appointed supplier is as smooth and hassle free as possible. 

• In September 2023, Ofgem announced its decision to introduce common minimum capital requirements for domestic suppliers, and modify the licence so that Ofgem can direct suppliers to ringfence customer credit balances when in the consumer interest. These reforms are part of a package of measures to build the capitalisation of the sector, enhance resilience to external shocks and put the retail market on a solid foundation to deliver the innovation, high standards and consumer outcomes needed to achieve our principal objective: to protect the interests of existing and future consumers.  

• More details on Minimum Capital Requirement can be found in Ofgem’s decision document  - Decision on introducing a minimum capital requirement and ringfencing customer credit balances by direction | Ofgem.  

• Earlier this year Ofgem also introduced the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) Levy Offset rule, which will ensure the costs claimed by energy companies under the SoLR levy, for taking on customers from firms that go out of business, will be the liability of the failed supplier. The new rule will ensure that, where funds remain available, keeping costs low for customers will remain the top priority.    

Enforcement activity  

• In April Ofgem published a provisional order against Tomato Energy and launched an investigation into whether Tomato is in compliance with rules around operational capability, maintaining sufficient levels of Capital and Liquidity and reporting financial Trigger Points appropriately to the Authority.    

• Ofgem confirmed the PO in July, which means it would not lapse, and would remain in place Ofgem was satisfied that the company has brought itself into full compliance with its regulatory obligations.  

• As part of a Provisional Order, Ofgem can set specific deadlines for Tomato Energy to demonstrate compliance with specific elements of the PO. Tomato initially missed its first deadline on 8 May 2025, resulting in the decision to confirm the provisional order in July.  

• The second deadline for Tomato to comply with SLC 4B.1 (obtaining and maintaining sufficient Liquidity to meet its reasonably anticipated financial liabilities on an ongoing basis) ended on 31 August 2025.  Ofgem issued a notice of failure to comply in September, and if Tomato Energy failed to rectify areas of non-compliance within 3 months, the regulator reserved the right to consider revoking its supply licence. 

• on Monday 14 October Ofgem published a Notice of Proposal to Impose a Financial Penalty of £1.5m, following Tomato’s failure to comply with Ofgem’s rules on obtaining and  maintaining sufficient levels of Capital and Liquidity. This was a proposed penalty, and Tomato or any other party had 21 days to make any representations. 

• On Wednesday 5 November Tomato confirmed it had entered administration, and Ofgem initiated the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process.