Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
You can file an informal and a formal complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). An informal complaint must be filed first before a formal complaint.
As long as you pay your current bill and any past due that is undisputed, the utility company may not shut off service while you are in the complaint process.
You have 2 years to file a complaint with the ICC to recover excessive or unjust charges or refunds for overcharges. You have 2 years to file a complaint for incorrect billing. The 2 years starts running when you first learned of the incorrect bill.
If you have a question or a problem with a utility bill, first contact the utility by phone, by letter, or in person. If you cannot solve the problem with the customer service representative, ask to have a supervisor hear the complaint.
If you cannot work out a solution, you should file a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). You can file an informal complaint in the following ways:
- Online
- By telephone in Illinois: (800) 524-0795
- TDD (800) 858-9277
- By telephone outside of Illinois: (217) 782-2024
- By mail
ICC Consumer Services Division
527 E. Capitol Ave
Springfield, IL 62701
If your service is off the fastest way to start the process is to file the complaint by telephone.
These informal complaints may take 2 to 4 weeks to settle. After taking the information from you, an ICC counselor will contact the utility company for further information. The counselor will try to solve the complaint in a way that is satisfactory to both sides. If either side disagrees with a proposed resolution, the counselor has no power to decide the outcome. While complaints are being investigated, you must continue to pay current bills, and the undisputed portion of a past-due bill or enter into a DPA for its payment.
If the problem cannot be resolved through the informal complaint process, you can file a formal complaint with the ICC. There are detailed rules for how to file such a complaint. You must go through the informal process before filing a formal complaint.
There are formal complaint forms available from the:
Chief Clerk, ICC
527 East Capitol Ave.
Springfield, IL 62701
After the complaint has been filed, there will be a hearing. You can have a lawyer, but it is not required. Review the ICC's reference book to prepare for your hearing.
If you disagree with the final ICC decision, you must ask for a rehearing, by filing an application within 30 days of the date of the final order.
If the ICC denies a rehearing, then you can appeal directly to an Illinois appellate court. You must file that appeal within 35 days from the date of the order denying a rehearing.
You should file any claim regarding loss or damage to property resulting from utility company action with the ICC. However, before going to the ICC you must file the claim with the utility first.
Legal Comment
Worried about doing this on your own? You may be able to get free legal help.
Only logged-in users can post comments. Please log in or register if you want to leave a comment. We do our best to reply to each comment. We can't give legal advice in the comments, so if you have a question or need legal help, please go to Get Legal Help.