CMA tells heating oil suppliers to make liability terms fair

On 10 September 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority published an open letter to domestic heating oil suppliersGOV reminding them that the terms and conditions in their consumer contracts must be fair and transparentGOV. The warning bites hardest on clauses that remove or reduce a supplier's liability to consumers, including where the supplier fails to perform its contractual obligations or delivers late.GOV

The letter follows a consumer protection review the CMA opened in March 2026GOV after concerns about fuel supply arising from the conflict in the Middle EastGOV. The review found that some heating oil suppliers cancelled orders for hundreds of customers who had ordered through an intermediary siteGOV when heating oil prices surged and supply was temporarily restricted — cancellations that may have breached those customers' contractsGOV. The CMA sought redressGOV, and the suppliers concerned have voluntarily agreed to provide compensationGOV; eligible customers either have been, or will be, contacted directly. A press release on the compensation was published on 28 August 2026.

For suppliers, the practical consequence is a compliance check on their standard terms now, while the CMA's stated action remains an open-letter reminder backed by voluntarily agreed compensation. The fairness and transparency bar comes from Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015GOV, whose provisions the CMA's CMA37 guidance identifies as the law on unfair contract terms in consumer contracts. First, an unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumerLegislation: a term is unfair where, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the consumer's detrimentLegislation, assessed taking into account the nature of the contract's subject matter, the circumstances when the term was agreed, and all other terms of the contract. Second, a trader must ensure that a written term of a consumer contract is transparentLegislation — expressed in plain and intelligible language and legible — and where a term could have different meanings, the meaning most favourable to the consumer prevails. Third, terms specifying the main subject matter of the contract or the appropriateness of the price escape fairness assessment only if they are both transparent and prominentLegislation, meaning brought to the consumer's attention so that an average consumer would be aware of them.

Liability exclusions and limitations deserve first attention: a clause that leaves a customer with no remedy when the supplier cancels or delays delivery is exactly the kind of term the CMA's letter targetsGOV. Suppliers should also review cancellation and delay provisions, check that order-confirmation and intermediary-sale journeys present the key terms prominently, and confirm that any customers promised compensation under the voluntary agreements are paid.

The requirements sit in Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, principally sections 62 (unfair terms not binding)Legislation, 64 (fairness exclusion only for transparent and prominent terms)Legislation and 68 (transparency duty)GOVLegislation, explained for businesses in the CMA's CMA37 unfair contract terms guidance.