Gas and electricity firms E.On Next, Good Energy and Octopus Energy have paid £8 million over compensation failures for delays in producing final bills when customers switch, regulator Ofgem has announced.
The energy watchdog said more than 100,000 households were affected after the three suppliers either missed or delayed compensation payouts that were due when they did not provide a final bill within six weeks, as required when a customer switches to another provider.
Under rules brought in three years ago, customers are entitled to a £30 payment each if a final bill is not produced in six weeks, with a further £30 due if the compensation is not provided within another 10 working days.
Ofgem said the three firms either missed or delayed compensation payments worth £6.3 million, with some of the affected households waiting over a year to receive redress.
The suppliers also paid an extra £1.7 million to customers or the energy industry voluntary redress scheme (EIVRS), which supports vulnerable consumers.
Neil Kenward, director for strategy at Ofgem, said: “Ofgem introduced these standards to make sure customers get the service they deserve when switching energy supplier.
“Our rules mean that where energy companies drag their heels, customers are automatically compensated. We won’t hesitate to hold energy companies to account, as we have done today.
“As the energy market starts to recover, we’ll likely see a return to more switching, and this action is a reminder to suppliers that they need to make switching as easy andconvenient as possible for their customers, and where they cause undue delay, pay compensation swiftly.”
The money is being paid automatically by the companies into customer acounts.
