Large UK electricity and gas supply companies take a median of 26 days to pay supplier invoices, 5 days faster than the UK median of 31 days. The sector ranks 15 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.
Figures cover large UK companies paying all their suppliers.
Rank 15 of 18 by median days to pay, where 1 is the slowest. The dark bar is electricity and gas supply.
At the median company, 12% of invoices are paid late, 3 points below the UK figure of 15%.
The middle half of companies pay in 21 to 34.8 days. A quarter take longer than 34.8 days.
2% of invoices take more than 60 days at the median company, against 5% across the UK.
58 electricity and gas supply companies became insolvent in England and Wales over Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, rank 17 of 18 by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.
Businesses that sell to electricity and gas supply companies can compare these figures with their own debtor days, or check how fast a single customer pays. Paidnice is UK credit control software that sends reminders and adds late fees on overdue invoices in Xero or QuickBooks. For the wider picture, read the accounts receivable statistics for the UK.
Production of electricity is the slowest trade at 29 days. Trade of electricity is the fastest at 18.5 days.
| Trade (SIC) | Median days | Middle half | Paid late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production of electricity (35110)82 companies | 29 | 23 to 40 | 14% |
| Distribution of electricity (35130)25 companies | 21.5 | 17.8 to 26.2 | 7% |
| Trade of electricity (35140)23 companies | 18.5 | 14 to 31 | 4.5% |
Cite: Paidnice (2026). UK electricity and gas supply payment times. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/uk/energy. Source: UK payment practices filings (March 2025 to August 2026), Companies House, Insolvency Service. Figures cover large UK companies paying all their suppliers.
Large UK electricity and gas supply companies take a median of 26 days to pay, and 12% of invoices run late. Paidnice sends the reminders and adds the late fees in Xero or QuickBooks, so you do not have to chase.
Large UK electricity and gas supply companies take a median of 26 days to pay supplier invoices, 5 days faster than the UK median of 31 days. The sector ranks 15 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.
At the median electricity and gas supply company, 12% of supplier invoices are not paid within the agreed terms. For all UK large companies the median is 15%.
58 electricity and gas supply companies entered insolvency in England and Wales in the 12 months to Aug 2026. That ranks 17 of 18 sectors by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate, so larger sectors have more cases.
Yes. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets a business charge statutory interest of 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate on a late commercial invoice, plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the invoice amount.
The Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017 require large UK companies and LLPs to report twice a year on how they pay suppliers. We took each company's latest filing with a period ending March 2025 to August 2026, matched it to its first SIC code on the Companies House register, and grouped companies by SIC section. Each company reports its own average days to pay. We take the median of those company averages, so one extreme filer cannot move the sector result. Trades and sectors publish only with 20 or more companies. Insolvency counts are Insolvency Service figures for England and Wales, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, not seasonally adjusted.
Sources: UK payment practices service, Companies House, Insolvency Service. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Download the sector and trade data (CSV).