How to claim back Climate Change Levy: a step-by-step guide

In short

Most businesses must pay the Climate Change Levy, so there is only something to claim if a site qualifies for one of HMRC's reliefs. If it does, find the CCL line on each site's bills, check which relief the site qualifies for, then send your energy supplier a letter (and a signed certificate where one is needed) asking it to stop the levy and correct the last four years of bills. If the supplier accepts your claim, it reclaims the levy from HMRC and credits you. Your supplier, or HMRC's excise helpline, can confirm how the rules apply to your site.

Updated 21 October 2026 by the Carbon Recycling team. Figures use the official UK government conversion factors and are checked against the current gov.uk guidance.

The levy isn't a discount every business can get. Shops, offices, restaurants, warehouses and factories normally pay it, and the levy on their bills is right. Only the cases in step 2 can stop or cut it. Start with our free Climate Change Levy check: five questions per site tell you whether any relief applies, whether you're overpaying and by how much, and give you the letter to send. This guide explains each step in plain English.

Step 1: find the levy on your bills

Look on a recent electricity or gas bill for a line called "CCL", "Climate Change Levy" or "Climate Change Levy at main rate". It shows the kWh charged and a rate of about 0.8p per kWh (£0.00801 from 1 April 2026). Note for each site: the supplier, the account number, the supply address and the kWh used over the last 12 months. Ask your supplier for a statement or a download of past bills if you don't have them.

Step 2: work out whether a relief applies

If none of these fits a site, it should pay the levy and there is nothing to claim.

If the site…	Relief	What you send
Uses so little that each bill averages no more than 33 kWh of electricity or 145 kWh of gas a day (about 1,000 or 4,397 kWh a month). Only very small sites do.	Small supply, treated as domestic (no levy on that fuel)	A letter. No certificate is needed.
Is a care home, hospice, flats, student or staff housing, or a charity's free activities (not its shops or other trading)	Qualifying use: no levy, and VAT at 5% instead of 20% (0% on electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027). At 60% or more the whole supply qualifies; below that, the share that does.	A letter and a signed certificate of qualifying use, one per site
Melts, fires, dries or heat-treats metals or minerals	Metallurgical and mineralogical exemption, on the share used in the process	Form PP10 to HMRC, form PP11 to the supplier, and a letter
Runs a process listed in a sector's umbrella agreement, with at least 70% of the site's energy going into it	Climate Change Agreement: 92% off electricity, 89% off gas, from certification only	An application through your sector association, between 1 January and 31 August

The rules apply site by site and supplier by supplier, so a group with a dozen shops checks each one. The free check does the sums for you.

Step 3: get the paperwork ready

Small supply: nothing to fill in. Your monthly kWh are the evidence, so keep the bills.
Homes and charity use: a certificate signed by a director, trustee or other responsible officer. HMRC doesn't publish a form, but it must show the supplier and customer, your VAT number, the premises, the exact percentage of qualifying use, and a signed declaration. The template below covers all of it.
Metal and mineral processes: download forms PP10 and PP11 from gov.uk. PP10 is your analysis of how much energy goes into the exempt process; it goes to HMRC. PP11 carries that percentage to your supplier. Keep copies of both, and review them every year. A PP11 lasts at most five years.

Step 4: send the letter

Send one letter per site, by email or post, to your supplier's business customer team. Fill in the parts in [brackets]. The free check writes a version tailored to your answers; these are the two most common.

Letter: small supply charged the levy

Delete the fuel that doesn't apply.

[Your company name]
[Your address]

10 November 2026

[Supplier name]
Customer services

Account number: [account number]
Supply address: [site address]

Dear Sir or Madam,

Climate Change Levy charged in error

Our use at this site averages no more than 1,000 kWh of electricity and 4,397 kWh of gas a month. Under paragraph 2.5 of HMRC Excise Notice CCL1/3, a supply this size is treated as domestic use and is not subject to the Climate Change Levy, without a certificate.

Please:

1. Stop charging the Climate Change Levy on this supply from your next bill.
2. Re-issue or credit our bills back to 10 November 2022, removing the levy that should not have been charged, as HMRC allows for up to four years.
3. Confirm in writing when this has been done, and the amount credited.

If you need anything else to process this, please tell me within 14 days.

Yours faithfully,

[Name]
[Position]
[Phone and email]

Letter: homes or charity use

[Your company name]
[Your address]

10 November 2026

[Supplier name]
Customer services

Account number: [account number]
Supply address: [site address]

Dear Sir or Madam,

Climate Change Levy charged in error

The site is used for domestic purposes or by a charity for its non-business activities. Under paragraphs 2.6 to 2.9 of HMRC Excise Notice CCL1/3, the whole supply is excluded from the Climate Change Levy, and under VAT Notice 701/19 it is charged VAT at the reduced rate for qualifying use (5%, or 0% on electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).

Please find enclosed our signed certificate of qualifying use for this site, and:

1. Stop charging the Climate Change Levy on this supply from your next bill, and apply the reduced rate of VAT for qualifying use.
2. Re-issue or credit our bills back to 10 November 2022, removing the levy that should not have been charged and the VAT difference, as HMRC allows for up to four years.
3. Confirm in writing when this has been done, and the amount credited.

If you need anything else to process this, please tell me within 14 days.

Yours faithfully,

[Name]
[Position]
[Phone and email]

Certificate of qualifying use

One per site. Use the exact percentage, such as 100% for a care home or 70% for a building that is mostly flats.

CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFYING USE: FUEL AND POWER
For VAT at the reduced rate and exclusion from the Climate Change Levy

Supplier: [Supplier name and address]
Customer: [Your company name], [your address]
Customer VAT registration number: [VAT number, or 'not registered']
Premises supplied: [site address]
Account number: [account number]

Percentage of the supply for qualifying use (domestic use, or a charity's non-business use): [exact percentage, for example 100%]

I declare that the information above is correct and complete. I have read HMRC VAT Notice 701/19 (Fuel and power) and Excise Notice CCL1/3, and I will tell the supplier at once if the qualifying use changes. I understand that anyone giving an incorrect certificate may be liable to a financial penalty.

Signed: ____________________
Name: [name]
Position: [director, trustee or other responsible officer]
Date: 10 November 2026

Step 5: what happens next

The supplier checks your letter and certificate. It may ask for more evidence, such as a floor plan or a breakdown of use.
It removes the levy from future bills. For a PP11, it must do this within five working days of receiving a correct certificate.
It re-bills or credits past periods, up to four years, and claims the levy back from HMRC.
It confirms the credit. Check it against the levy shown on your old bills, plus the VAT on it if you can't reclaim VAT.

If a supplier refuses, ask for the reason in writing and quote the paragraph of HMRC Excise Notice CCL1/3 in your letter. If you still can't agree, HMRC's excise helpline can explain how the rules apply to you. Give every new supplier your certificate when you switch.

Mistakes to avoid

Signing a certificate with a guessed percentage. An incorrect certificate can lead to a penalty, so base it on floor area, meters or time.
Assuming a green tariff removes the levy. It doesn't, and hasn't since August 2015.
Forgetting old suppliers. Claim from each supplier for the years it supplied the site.
Waiting. Every month you wait, the oldest month drops out of the four years.

Start with the levy saving, finish with the report

You don't need a carbon report to claim any of the reliefs above except a Climate Change Agreement, and you don't need to have cut anything to join one of those either: you join with 12 months of continuous energy data per site as the base year (2022 where you have it), and the target is set against that. That record, each site's electricity and gas month by month, is the evidence for a levy claim and the base of a carbon report.

Every Carbon Recycling plan, from Starter at £59 a month + VAT, includes the Climate Change Levy check on all your UK sites. Add your bills or connect your accounting software, answer four questions per site, and it works out what each should pay, what it can claim back, and drafts the letter for each supplier. The same figures then produce your carbon footprint, SECR table and Carbon Reduction Plan, and can form the energy side of a Climate Change Agreement base year where 2022 data isn't available. Carbon Recycling isn't a tax adviser and doesn't make claims for you.

Frequently asked questions

Can any business claim Climate Change Levy back?

No. Most businesses must pay the levy, and for them there is nothing to claim. You can only claim back levy charged on a supply that one of HMRC's reliefs covers: a very small supply, homes or a charity's non-business use, or a metal or mineral process. A Climate Change Agreement cuts the rate for listed energy-intensive processes, but only from certification.

Who do I claim Climate Change Levy back from?

Your energy supplier. The supplier is the one who charged the levy and paid it to HMRC, so it corrects your bills and reclaims the money from HMRC itself. You don't claim from HMRC directly, except through form CCL200X when a PP11 certificate was already in place and the relief was still too low.

How far back can I claim?

Up to four years from the date you claim, for small supplies, homes and charity use, and exempt processes. Climate Change Agreement relief can't be backdated: it starts when the site is certified.

How long does it take?

Suppliers must apply a correct PP11 certificate within five working days. Back-dated credits usually take longer, because the supplier re-bills each period and claims from HMRC, which normally pays within 30 days of a valid claim. Ask for written confirmation of the amount.

Do I need to fill in a form?

It depends on the relief. A small supply needs no form, just a request. Homes and charity use need a signed certificate of qualifying use, one per site. Metal and mineral processes need HMRC's PP10 analysis, sent to HMRC, and a PP11 certificate for the supplier.

What if I've changed supplier?

Claim from each supplier for the time it supplied you. A certificate stops having effect when you leave a supplier, so give the new one a fresh certificate on day one, or the overcharge starts again.

Do I need a carbon report before I can claim?

No. Small supplies, homes and charity use, and metal and mineral processes need only the letter and certificate on this page. A Climate Change Agreement is the one relief that needs measuring first: 12 months of continuous energy data per site as the base year, then a target to cut against it and energy reported to the scheme each target period.

Should I use a recovery firm?

You can. Energy brokers and recovery specialists make these claims for you, usually for a share of what comes back. The steps on this page are the same ones they follow, so many businesses do it themselves with the letter below.

Turn a year of bills into your figures and reports

Add a year of bills and Carbon Recycling produces your footprint, PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan and SECR report, with every figure traced to its government factor. Prices are on the pricing page, from £59 a month + VAT.

Start free trial See prices

14 days free. No card needed.