Editorial policy
How BillDecoded decides what to publish, where the facts come from, what we will not accept money for, and what happens when we get something wrong.
In one paragraph
Rules come from primary sources and we name them. Figures are dated and tied to the price cap period they belong to. Guidance carries no affiliate links, no sponsored content and no paid placements, and advertisers have no input into it. Corrections are published, not quietly edited.
Where facts come from
Every rule stated on this site traces to a primary source, and pages name it specifically rather than gesturing at “the regulations”.
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Ofgem | Supply licence conditions, the price cap level and its unit rates and standing charges, and supplier obligations on billing, direct debits and credit balances |
| GOV.UK and DESNZ | Government policy, consultation outcomes, and statutory processes such as independent meter examination |
| Energy Ombudsman | Terms of reference, eligibility, timescales, award limits and how decisions are implemented |
| Citizens Advice | Consumer-facing process and rights guidance |
| Legislation | Statutory limits, such as the Limitation Act 1980 for how long a debt can be enforced |
Where a page relies on a figure from a secondary source — a regional rate table, for example — it says so, gives the date it was checked, and tells you to verify it against the primary source before relying on it.
Standards every page has to meet
Specific over general
“Standing charges are £314.74 a year at current cap rates, 17% of a typical bill” beats “standing charges can be significant”. If a page cannot be specific, it should say why not.
Dated, and reviewed
Price cap figures are tied to the cap period. Every page carries the date it was last reviewed, and rate pages are reviewed each quarter.
Honest about uncertainty
Where an outcome depends on evidence we cannot see, the page says so and tells you what to ask for. Where a change has been announced but is not yet law, the page says that too, explicitly.
Ends somewhere
Every guide finishes at a calculator, a template, another guide or the Ombudsman. A page that leaves you where it found you has not done its job.
No overclaiming
We do not tell you that you will win, that a bill will be written off, or that a rule guarantees an outcome. Suppliers have legitimate answers sometimes, and the guides say when.
No scare framing
People arrive here worried about money. Pages are written to reduce that, not to trade on it.
Advertising and independence
This site is free and funded by advertising. The rules that keeps honest:
- No affiliate links in guidance. Links to Ofgem, Citizens Advice, the Energy Ombudsman or a supplier earn nothing. This matters more here than on most sites: the whole value of the advice is that it tells you the free route.
- No sponsored posts and no paid links. We do not sell placement in a guide, in a comparison table or in a list, at any price.
- Advertisers have no input into editorial. None sees a page before it is published, and no page has ever been changed at an advertiser's request.
- Advertising is labelled and separated from guidance so it is clear which is which.
- No ads on the pages where they would be inappropriate — the legal pages, the editorial pages and the checklist.
If any of that ever stops being true, this page will change first and it will say what changed.
Corrections
We publish information people use to challenge charges that affect their household finances. An error here can cost someone money or credibility with their supplier, so corrections take priority over new work.
Tell us
Email hello@billdecoded.co.uk or use the contact form with the page address and the sentence you think is wrong. A source helps but is not required.
We check it
Against the primary source. If we were wrong, we say so — including to ourselves.
We fix and date it
The page is corrected and its review date updated. Material corrections are noted on the page rather than made silently.
Typical turnaround for a factual correction is the same week. If a correction affects more than one page — a rate change usually does — the whole cluster is updated together rather than leaving pages disagreeing with each other.
Review cadence
| Type of page | Reviewed | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Price cap rates, unit rates, standing charges | Every quarter | Ofgem publishes the next cap level, roughly six weeks before it takes effect |
| Ombudsman process and timescales | When the rules change | Currently pending: the confirmed reduction from eight weeks to six, which needs legislation |
| Back billing and licence conditions | When conditions are amended | Ofgem licence modifications |
| Usage benchmarks | Annually | Ofgem revises its typical domestic consumption values |
| Everything else | At least annually | Or sooner if a reader tells us it is wrong |
Where a figure is about to change — a cap period ending, a rule awaiting Royal Assent — the page says so and gives the date, rather than going quietly stale.
What this policy does not cover
It is a policy about accuracy and independence, not a guarantee of outcome. Nothing on BillDecoded is legal or regulated financial advice, rules and rates change, and suppliers apply them differently in practice. Always check the figures on your own bill and the current position with the official source. The terms of use set out the limits in full.