Thousands of businesses were mis-sold energy contracts by brokers who were secretly paid to inflate the rates. Many instructed solicitors to recover the money. Not all of those solicitors did what they were paid to do.

What the mis-selling involved

For years, energy brokers arranged contracts for business customers without disclosing that they were receiving commission payments from the energy suppliers. In many cases the broker had direct influence over the rate quoted to the customer. The higher the rate, the higher the commission. The customer had no idea the arrangement existed and no reason to question the quote they were given.

This is known as an undisclosed commission arrangement. It has been recognised by the courts as a valid basis for a legal claim. If your business was paying inflated energy costs because a broker was secretly incentivised to overcharge you, you had the right to recover that money. That right belonged to your business from the moment the overcharging began.

A solicitor who allows a claim to become time-barred has not just made a mistake. They have permanently taken away your right to recover.

Where the solicitor comes in

Many business owners who discovered the mis-selling instructed solicitors to pursue a claim on their behalf. The solicitor's job was straightforward in principle: investigate what happened, establish the extent of the undisclosed commission, and either negotiate a settlement or issue proceedings within the relevant time limit. That is what they were engaged and paid to do.

If that solicitor allowed the claim to become time-barred, meaning they failed to issue proceedings before the limitation period expired, the original claim is gone. There is no way to revive it. But there may be a separate claim available against the solicitor themselves, for the loss their failure caused. That is a professional negligence claim. It is not the energy claim. It is a claim for the value of the energy claim that the solicitor's negligence destroyed.

These are two distinct legal matters. The original claim is over. The question now is whether the solicitor who was supposed to protect your position can be held accountable for failing to do so.

How much you may be entitled to

The value of a professional negligence claim in this situation is broadly equivalent to the compensation you would have recovered if the original case had been pursued properly. For businesses that were locked into long-term contracts with inflated rates, that can be a very significant figure. Commission charges were often embedded across years of billing. The cumulative overcharge, calculated across the full contract term, is often far larger than business owners initially assume.

A proper review will look at the contracts involved, the duration, the estimated commission margin, and what a successful energy claim would likely have recovered. From that, it is possible to assess what the negligence claim is worth pursuing.

What you need to do now

There is also a limitation period on the professional negligence claim itself, so delay is not in your interest. If you believe a solicitor let your energy claim go time-barred, or if you instructed a solicitor and simply never heard anything back, it is worth getting a review done sooner rather than later. Sold Short offers a free initial assessment. You tell us what happened with the original claim and how the solicitor handled it. We assess whether there is a viable negligence case. If there is, we connect you with a specialist who takes it on no win no fee.

Sold Short reviews business energy claims where solicitors failed to deliver. Free review. No win no fee.