Citizens Advice supports Energywatch call for real protection for gas and electricity customers
5th July 2005
Problem-solving charity Citizens Advice has backed Energywatch's call to industry regulator Ofgem for better protection for vulnerable customers from rogue billing practices.
Ofgem announced today that there would be no further regulation for at least a year, and that there was no need for a market study to assess the severity and cause of problems that customers are experiencing.
Last year 82,000 people came to the Citizens Advice service for help following problems with utility companies. Two thirds of energy problems Citizens Advice Bureaux report to Citizens Advice relate to billing. Energywatch also found that two thirds of complaints it receives are about billing - but Ofgem has concluded that there is ‘no widespread failure in billing arrangements'.
Cases seen by Citizens Advice Bureaux include:
- A CAB client from Tyne & Wear was still no nearer to sorting out bills for more than £280 from one supplier over eight months after switching to get cheaper fuel.
- A CAB client from Wales who uses a pre-payment card sought advice when he received a bill for nearly £1,000 due to a mix up between suppliers about whose customer he was. When he rang the company they told him to ignore their bill but offered no explanation.
- When a CAB client from Oxfordshire sought advice about high fuel bills he discovered the meter had been wrongly wired. After numerous phone calls the company agreed he was owed £500. He needed this money to pay other bills but the company said they could only credit his account. They said cash refunds were not their policy.
- When a CAB client from Cheshire challenged an electricity bill of £452 the company offered to take £50 off. But the meter readings showed they had over-estimated her account by some 25,000 units.
- An 83-year-old CAB client sought advice because she could not face negotiating her way through the options on her suppliers' call centre system. They had failed to turn up for several appointments to read her meter. She has had no bill for eight months and is worried about getting a bill she cannot afford.
Susan Marks, policy officer for Citizens Advice, said:
"We are disappointed that Ofgem is not intending to undertake a market study. This was a golden opportunity for regulator to say that consumers should not have to pay for utility companies' poor infrastructure and poor customer service. A British Standard is near completion, and Ofgem had the chance to ensure all companies adopt this standard for accurate and clear bills.
"Many of the people we see who have problems with electricity and gas billing are extremely vulnerable, and trying to get by on a low income. Yet time and time again, companies expect consumers to pay bills they may not even owe. CAB clients are already paying for fuel companies' failure to invest in their billing processes."
Last updated: February 23, 2007