You can generally only go back to the year 2000 to claim for mis-sold non-domestic energy contracts because of a key regulatory shift:
🔑 The Energy Market Was Deregulated in 2000 for Non-Domestic Customers
Prior to 2000, the UK’s energy market for non-domestic users (like businesses, charities, and GP surgeries) was not fully open to competition. The government began deregulating the energy market in phases throughout the 1990s, and by 2000, non-domestic customers were legally allowed to choose their energy supplier across the UK.
Here’s why that matters for mis-selling claims:
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🧾 1. Mis-Selling Requires a Commercial Choice
• Before 2000, energy supply was largely handled by regional monopolies, and customers had no real choice.
• Mis-selling (e.g. brokers offering inflated prices, hiding commissions) typically involves a competitive sale, where a broker or supplier persuades a business to sign a specific deal.
• That kind of activity could only happen after deregulation, when contracts became negotiable and subject to misrepresentation or hidden charges.
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🏛 2. Legal and Regulatory Frameworks Align From 2000 Onward
• Legal frameworks for pursuing commercial misrepresentation or breach of duty assume a market where competitive sales and broker involvement exist.
• Claims for mis-sold contracts often rely on proving that a broker or supplier acted unfairly within the context of a free market, which only existed post-deregulation.
• This aligns with the timeline when third-party intermediaries (TPIs)—i.e. energy brokers—began operating more widely.
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⏳ 3. Statute of Limitations and the ‘Discovery Rule’
• In the UK, most financial claims (including for mis-selling) are subject to a 6-year limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980.
• However, if you only recently discovered the mis-selling (e.g. hidden commissions), you may be able to rely on a 3-year “discovery rule” from the date you should reasonably have known you had a claim.
• Regardless, this is only relevant from 2000 onwards, because that’s when actionable misconduct could legally occur.
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📌 Summary
You can only go back to 2000 to claim for mis-sold non-domestic energy contracts because:
• That’s when the energy market was fully deregulated for non-domestic users.
• Brokers and suppliers began offering competitive (and potentially misleading) deals after that point.
• Legal claims depend on the existence of a free market where mis-selling is possible.
• Anything before 2000 is outside the scope of today’s mis-selling frameworks and commercial case law.
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If you’re reviewing old contracts or considering a claim, the most relevant period is from 2000 to the present, with particular attention to the last 6–12 years, where the majority of recoverable mis-selling likely occurred.