The gauge, the stain at the base, and the rule about ordering only what the tank can hold are already on the heating-oil tank page. Read that before you phone. This page starts once the tank can take oil, and it covers the words you need from the supplier while Tuesday’s announcement is still a plan. A mains-gas house uses the meter page for the October cap. An oil house buys kerosene by the load. The two bills do not share a unit rate.
About 1.5 million UK households rely on heating oil, on the government’s own account in the response to the CMA market study, published on 13 October 2026. Many of those homes are rural and off the gas grid, which is the same sort of place the Met Office flags when it talks about a rural frost. Clear skies and light winds let the temperature fall in the open, even when a city a few miles away stays above freezing. A frost outlook is a reason to know how much oil you have left. It is a weak reason to accept the first price you hear on the phone.
What Friday’s forecast changes, and what it leaves alone
The Met Office national forecast, in the text updated at 03:00 UTC on Friday 16 October 2026, says tonight’s inland showers mostly fade, skies clear, and it turns chilly, with a rural frost possible. Saturday is mostly dry with sunny spells, showers more likely near some eastern coasts, temperatures around average by day, and a risk of an overnight frost. The outlook for Sunday to Tuesday, updated at the same time, opens with a chilly Sunday, patchy frost and fog, then dry spells and sunshine, with showers possible in the east later, and cloud and a breeze building from Monday. The longer outlook on that page, updated at 12:00 UTC on Thursday 15 October, keeps late October changeable rather than locked into a hard freeze.
Read the forecast again for your own postcode before you treat Friday’s national lines as a local frost. A later update can move the cloud. The warnings page is the place for a yellow, amber or red warning. A frost risk in the forecast can sit there with no warning in force. Pipes in a loft, a garden tap and the white condensate pipe are separate checks, on the loft-pipe page, the outdoor-tap page and the condensate-pipe page. Those pages assume a heating system you can lag or isolate. They do not set the price of a tanker.
If the boiler is about to run through a colder night, the oil has to be in the tank before the driver finishes for the weekend. Suppliers in a lane with one depot can be booked up once the frost is in the forecast. That is a timing problem. It is still your job to keep the quote. A verbal “about a pound a litre, we’ll be there Saturday” is the sentence Tuesday’s papers say has gone wrong before.
Tuesday’s announcement is a plan
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero news release of 13 October 2026 says households on heating oil will get stronger protections under plans to regulate the market, including clearer standards, protection for vulnerable households, and clearer routes to compensation. It says the government accepts the CMA’s recommendation to strengthen regulation. It also says ministers will work with industry on a regulatory regime, and that codes of conduct will be strengthened in the shorter term. Read those verbs as future work. A code that is being strengthened is not a licence you can ask a driver to show on Saturday morning.
The same day’s full response is more precise about what is agreed and what is still design. The government agrees in principle to a proportionate regime in which Ofgem, and in Northern Ireland the Utility Regulator, would authorise distributors. The list in that response includes a record of heating-oil households, a priority service for vulnerable customers in volatile periods, a mandatory code with access to alternative dispute resolution, clearer supply terms, signposting of support, and enforcement and monitoring powers. It then says getting that regime right will take time, evidence, and discussion with regulators, industry, consumer groups and the devolved governments. There is no start date in the document for a switch you can rely on this weekend.
The response also says its replies to recommendations 1 to 5 apply to Great Britain. Heating-oil policy is transferred in Northern Ireland, and the document says the UK government stands ready to work with the Northern Ireland Executive while that executive considers the same recommendations. A tank in Belfast, or anywhere else in Northern Ireland, should still get this weekend’s order in writing. The new Great Britain framework is not a rule the driver is already under.
Do not pay a deposit because someone on the phone says the government has capped heating oil, or that a cancelled order is now automatically refunded at the old price. The 13 October papers describe plans and a review. They do not publish a unit rate for kerosene, and they do not open a claim form.
There is still no heating-oil price cap
Ofgem’s cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 limits default gas and electricity prices in Great Britain. The government response says the CMA found that the sharp rises after the conflict in the Middle East largely reflected higher wholesale costs, and that the CMA concluded the government should not regulate distributor prices at this stage. The response then says the government is not proposing simply to copy the gas and electricity price cap onto heating oil. The focus it describes is targeted support for people most at risk, watching supply and prices, and consumer protections aimed at the gaps the CMA named: quotations, cancellations, vulnerable customers, and redress.
The only litre prices in that response are historical. It says heating oil was around 55 pence a litre in February 2026, before the crisis, rose to 104 pence a litre in March, and was rising again at the date of publication on 13 October. Those are the department’s figures for that document. They are not a quote for a delivery on Saturday, and they are not a forecast this site can turn into a bill. Ask the supplier for today’s price for the litres your tank can still take. If a second supplier will quote, write that price down too. The response says that under ordinary conditions many households can choose between suppliers, and that choice is thinner in some rural and remote areas. Where you only have one realistic depot, the written terms matter more, because you cannot walk away to a second price on the day.
Price comparison is uneven, on the same document. It says online price tools are weaker in Scotland, and weaker across Great Britain when the market is volatile. It says households in Northern Ireland still have the CCNI price checker in those periods. A temporary Great Britain price checker, modelled on that Northern Ireland tool, is listed as further work, not as a site you can open tonight. If a supplier’s Saturday price is far from the last written quote you hold, treat the gap as a question for that supplier. A missing government checker does not fill it in.
What to get in writing before you pay
Do this on the phone or by email in daylight, with the tank page already done. You are collecting a quote. You are not climbing the tank, opening the fill cap, or signing a delivery ticket you have not read.
- Tell the supplier the capacity on the tank plate and the gauge reading, in the same sentence. Let them set the stop. The tank page explains why a stuck gauge and a full-capacity order are how a tank gets overfilled. If the plate or the gauge is unreadable, stop the order and get the tank checked before anyone brings a hose.
- Ask for the price per litre, the number of litres, the total in pounds, and whether VAT is inside that total. If the quote splits the product from the delivery charge, keep both numbers. A price that can change when the driver arrives is a different offer from a price fixed until a named delivery window. Ask which one you are being offered.
- Ask what happens if they cancel, or if they deliver late. The department’s news release says the CMA found that 1,700 households were owed compensation after suppliers cancelled orders and customers had to order again at a higher price. That is a finding about what already went wrong. It is not a promise that your supplier will hold Saturday’s price if they ring back on Monday. Ask, and keep the answer: will they honour the written price, will they refund a deposit, and by when must they tell you the load is off.
- Ask for the delivery window and whether someone must be at the property. The tank page already says to stay where the driver can hear you and where you can see the hose. Put that in the booking if they will accept it. If oil shows at the vent, at a joint, or on the ground, the fill stops. A quote does not oblige you to finish a load that is spilling.
- Ask them to send the quote by email or text before you pay a deposit. A price you can scroll back to is the record you need if the ticket on the day shows a different litre rate. Write the name of the person, the firm, and the time of the call on the same note. If they will only give a price that expires when you hang up, decide with that limit in view. A spoken price you cannot store is the gap the CMA described.
- On the day, compare the ticket with the writing before you sign. Litres, price per litre, and total should match what you accepted. If they do not, ask the driver to wait while you phone the office. Signing first and disputing later is harder, because the response itself says routes to redress are still thinner than for gas and electricity, and the mandatory dispute scheme is part of the regime that has not started.
Keep the quote, the delivery ticket and a photo of the gauge taken before the hose is connected. Those three are what you show the supplier if the level afterwards does not match the litres on the ticket. This site does not store them for you.
The 500 litre minimum is under review
The news release says industry practices that set minimum orders at 500 litres for some customers will be reviewed, because those minimums can make people pay for more oil than they need. The full response agrees to that review, and it agrees that a future code should make distributors signpost payment plans, minimum volumes, and the reasons for those minimums. It also corrects a common reading of the rule book: the regulations do not prescribe a 500 litre minimum. The smallest amount a tanker can deliver depends on the approved operating range of the meter fitted to that vehicle, and some systems are approved for smaller drops. The government says it will look at whether the way the rules and the guidance are applied is restricting choice, and that any change has to keep the measured delivery accurate.
None of that deletes a 500 litre line on a supplier’s page today. If your tank has room for 300 litres, ask whether this vehicle can deliver 300, and ask them to say why if the answer is no. Ordering 500 into a tank with 300 litres of space is the overfill the tank page tells you to refuse. Spreading the cost is the other half of the same problem. Payment plans are something the government wants codes to signpost. They are not a national oil direct debit you can switch on from this page. If the supplier offers a plan, read the total you will pay and whether a missed payment stops the next delivery. If they do not offer one, that refusal is not a breach of a code that is still being written.
| Ask for | Why it is in those papers | If they will not write it down |
|---|---|---|
| Price per litre, litres, and the total | Quotations were one of the gaps the CMA named, and the government accepted that finding. | Treat a spoken price as unset. Get a second quote if another supplier will serve the lane. |
| Whether the price holds until the named delivery | Cancelled orders left 1,700 households buying again at a higher price, on the department’s news release. | Ask what a cancellation does to a deposit. Keep their answer with the quote. |
| The smallest delivery this tanker can make | A 500 litre practice is under review. The regulations do not themselves fix 500 litres. | Do not order more than the tank can hold. Use the gauge and the plate. |
| Any payment plan they already offer | The government wants future codes to signpost plans and the reasons for minimum orders. | A plan that does not exist yet is not a discount. The March support fund is a separate call to the council or the devolved government. |
| How to complain, and which code they follow | Mandatory access to dispute resolution is part of the regime still being designed. Interim work is with industry codes, including UKIFDA and, in Northern Ireland, NIOF. | Write down the firm and the time. A future ombudsman scheme is not a number you can ring tonight. |
Help with the bill is a different phone call
The 13 October news release describes £53 million of immediate support announced earlier in the year for vulnerable heating-oil customers. The March release, Over £50 million to help families struggling with soaring heating oil costs, called the package over £50 million and split it as £27 million for England through local authorities and the Crisis and Resilience Fund, £17 million for Northern Ireland, £4.6 million for Scotland and £3.8 million for Wales. Councils and the devolved governments decide who qualifies. This page cannot see your income, your postcode’s allocation, or whether the fund still has money in October. Phone the council, or the body your nation named, and use their form. A supplier who says the government will knock the money off the tanker invoice is describing something these papers do not say.
Leaving oil for a heat pump is a different decision, with its own rules. The same news release says oil households can get a £9,000 discount off a heat pump, that July’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme applications were 81% higher than the previous year, and that 1,042 voucher redemptions paid in August were for that £9,000 oil grant, 32% of the month’s redemptions. Amounts, dates and who may apply are on the grant notes, which follow the GOV.UK scheme page and say this directory does not decide eligibility. The walk around the loft, the radiators and the garden before an MCS survey is the heat-pump page. A survey in November does not put oil in the tank for Sunday morning. Order only if the tank is sound. Ask an installer about a grant when you are ready to change the heating, and ask whether they are MCS-certified and whether they will claim through Ofgem. A Gas Safe card covers gas work. It does not authorise an oil boiler, and it is not an MCS certificate.
When the quote is the wrong job
Some weekends the paperwork should wait. The tank page has the full stop list, including the Environment Agency incident line in England, 0800 80 70 60, on GOV.UK’s report an environmental problem page, and the routes that page gives for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Use that list if oil is already moving toward a drain or a ditch. Do not take a delivery into a tank that is weeping, and do not ask the driver to “put a bit in and see”.
- You can smell oil indoors, someone feels dizzy or sick, or the carbon monoxide alarm is sounding when you are not holding the test button. Leave. Oil boilers can put carbon monoxide into a room. Call 999 if anyone is unwell or the alarm is sounding for real. The test-button check belongs on the alarm page, on a day when the alarm is silent.
- You see fire or smoke at the tank or the boiler. Leave and call 999. A directory listing is not the fire service.
- The boiler will not fire after a delivery that otherwise looked normal. Stop pressing reset. Oil firing wants an OFTEC-registered technician. The will-not-fire page is the switch and lockout check for a boiler, and a smell of gas on that page is the gas emergency line, 0800 111 999 in England, Scotland and Wales. A kerosene smell in the garden is the tank page, not that gas line. In Northern Ireland, nidirect’s domestic oil installation page tells you to ask for an OFTEC identity card before work on the boiler or the tank. Ask for that oil card wherever the tank stands. A listing that shows Gas Safe is showing a gas register entry. Ask whether the person also holds an oil card before you book.
- You are a tenant. Tell the landlord about a stain, a failed gauge, or a quote you are being pressed to accept for a tank you do not own. Do not commission a new tank, and do not pay for oil into a tank you have reported as leaking.
If the tank is sound and you want a technician for a service, a gauge, or a boiler that locked out after the fill, open plumbing and heating and use the number on the card. Lists with a city attached include Exeter, Aberdeen and Belfast. Say it is an oil boiler or an oil tank, and ask for OFTEC registration that covers that work. The contact-details page only shows how that call works. Nobody here phones the depot, nobody here forwards the quote, and nobody here decides a grant. For pounds on a repair once you have a written figure, the way to read scope, VAT and exclusions is the trade-quote page. That page is a tradesperson’s estimate. A heating-oil load is the supplier’s ticket. Keep them apart.
Questions before you book the tanker
Is heating oil inside the October energy price cap?
No. Ofgem’s cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 sets default gas and electricity rates in Great Britain. The government response of 13 October 2026 says it is not proposing to copy that cap onto heating oil. The price that applies to your tanker is the price the supplier puts in writing for your litres.
Has the 500 litre minimum order been scrapped?
No. The 13 October news release says industry practices that set a 500 litre minimum for some customers will be reviewed. The government response says the regulations do not themselves prescribe 500 litres, and that the smallest delivery depends on the measuring equipment approved for that tanker. Ask what this supplier can deliver into the space your tank still has. The review does not change an order placed this weekend.
Can I claim the compensation for cancelled orders from this page?
No. The department’s news release of 13 October says the CMA found that 1,700 households were owed compensation after suppliers cancelled orders and customers had to buy again at a higher price. That finding is not a form on this site, and this site does not take a claim. If a supplier cancels your order, keep the written quote and ask that supplier for their complaints route.
Do the new heating-oil rules already apply in Northern Ireland?
The government response says heating-oil policy is transferred to Northern Ireland, and that its replies to the CMA’s recommendations 1 to 5 apply to Great Britain. It says it stands ready to work with the Northern Ireland Executive, which is considering the same recommendations for transferred matters. A Belfast tank still needs the quote in writing this weekend. The response also says households in Northern Ireland already have the CCNI price checker during volatile periods. A Great Britain government price checker is still marked as further work.
Need a number for the oil boiler?
Open the plumbing list, pick the city, and contact the business yourself if the tank, the gauge or the boiler is beyond a quote. Ask for an OFTEC registration that covers oil. You place the call.