The supplier cut off 70 customers for every 100,000 in 2007, almost twice the amount of the second placed supplier EDF.
Energy regulator Ofgem suggested npowers’ practices need to be updated in order to bring them in line with their competitors. Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem chief executive, called for npower (www.npower.com) to show more empathy and support:
‘At a time when some energy suppliers have announced double-digit price rises, it is vital that suppliers ensure they are offering the best support to people in debt. This is why npower must do more to match the best practice set by the leaders in this field.'
The Ofgem statement prompted an angry response from npower, who unequivocally refuted Ofgem’s claims. A spokesman for npower had the following to say:
'Higher disconnections are not due to poor processes. A supply disconnection is only ever carried out as a last resort after a painstaking 14-step process and multiple attempts being made to resolve the issue with the customer’
He continued:
‘We never disconnect vulnerable customers.’
Chris Eagle, Commercial Manager at EnergyChoices, can see validity in both arguments:
‘npower seems to go about their debt collection in an ethical manner, but the statistics presented here illustrate a fundamental failing within their system. Suppliers have a number of obligations in relation to customers facing financial difficulties, and these were set out in Ofgem’s 2003 good practice guidelines. As a result of these guidelines, British Gas (www.britishgas.co.uk) no longer cut customers off. They fit payment meters instead. As a compromise, Npower needs to review their practices, and Ofgem needs to update their good practice guidelines, which are now over four years old.’
