14. Regulators

Regulators oversee the way certain companies which have a public role behave, and look at complaints from customers. Taking a complaint to a regulator is free. But they can only look at the way your complaint was dealt with, not at what you complained about. You must normally go through the company's own complaints procedure before you contact the regulator.

When can I use a regulator?

Some of the most important regulators are:

• Ofgem, for gas and electricity companies;
• Ofwat, for water companies; and
• Oftel, for phone companies.