Energy News

Complaints to “big six” energy suppliers soar

Wednesday 02 November, 2011

By Martin Fagan

Ofgem fines npower £2m and criticises energy companies for not doing enough to restore consumer confidence in energy industry

Energy regulator Ofgem has fined Npower £2million for breach of the regulations which set standards for the way energy companies handle customer complaints.

This follows a penalty of £2.5million imposed on British Gas in July this year for breach of the same regulations.

Ofgem’s investigation found that Npower had failed to record all the required details of complaints received and failed to provide customers with some key details about the redress service provide by the Energy Ombudsman.

Npower was also admonished by Ofgem for failing to implement adequate policies and processes for dealing with complaints in an efficient and timely manner, but the supplier said it had remedied all the breaches of the regulations which Ofgem identified.

Ofgem has also announced it is currently investigating the way in which EDF handles complaints.

The fining of Npower is one aspect of a huge surge in complaints against energy companies. Ofgem said it had received 530,000 complaints this year, the most common being billing errors, delays in getting through to call centres and poor treatment by staff.

“Consumers have a right to expect that energy companies will comply with the standards,” said Sarah Harrison, Ofgem’s senior partner for sustainable development.

“Npower failed to do so and, although it took remedial action, it has incurred a penalty for failing consumers.”

Responding to Ofgem's £2million fine of Npower, Adam Scorer, director of external affairs at energy watchdog Consumer Focus, said: “It’s welcome to see Ofgem willing to hammer home the point that unless energy companies start treating consumers fairly they will be a price to pay.

Self-styled consumer champion Which? also welcomed the fine, saying people are “fed up” with bad customer service and suppliers now have to “work hard” to win back customers' trust.

Ofgem required all energy companies to publish the total number of complaints they received in the year to 30 September 2011 on their websites by 31 October. Complaints against EDF Energy increased by 40%, while smaller supplier Ecotricity had the fewest complaints, with 0.55 per 1,000 customers - a 20% drop on its 2010 figure.