Energy firm with 800,000 customers must give £277k compensation to customers after huge payment fail
Read on to find out how much you could get
PAY OUT Energy firm with 800,000 customers must give £277k compensation to customers after huge payment fail
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THOUSANDS of customers of a major energy supplier will receive compensation after an investigation by the industry regulator.
Energy firm Utilita will pay around £277,000 in compensation after it failed to pay its Warm Home Discount payments on time.
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Utilita will pay customers compensation after an investigation by the regulator
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The regulator found that the firm failed to pass on the mandatory discount to more than 4,000 customers within the required timeframe because of an internal error in processing payments.
The Warm Home Discount is a one-off annual £150 discount of electricity bills to households on certain benefits or those on a low income with high energy costs.
The automatic payment is usually paid by March 31.
But thousands of the customers did not receive it on time this year.
In recognition of the impact the delayed payments could have had on its customers, many of whom are vulnerable, Utilita has agreed to pay £247,000 of compensation to those affected.
Customers will receive a further payment of up to £150 each.
The money will be paid in addition to £30,000 of compensation Utilita paid to affected customers shortly after the issue was identified.
Cathryn Scott, regulatory director of market oversight and enforcement at Ofgem, said that failure to make payments on time is "unacceptable".
She added: 'The Warm Home Discount is a lifeline for vulnerable energy consumers on low incomes.
"Even a short delay in making these payments can cause harm to vulnerable customers, so it's vital that suppliers make these payments on time and without hassle.
"Unfortunately, on this occasion, Utilita fell short of our standards by failing to pay some of their customers in a timely manner."
She said that Utilita has done an audit of its Warm Home Discount processes to make sure it does not happen again.
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