Latest news with #CharlotteFriel
Scottish Sun
12-05-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Thousands of Scots households set for energy refunds after customers overcharged
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THOUSANDS of Scots households are set for an energy refund after customers were overcharged. A host of energy firms are paying out £7million in compensation. 2 Thousands of Scots households could be owed a cash refund Credit: Getty Ten suppliers are handing out cash, including Utility Warehouse, Octopus Energy and EDF Energy. Ofgem, the industry regulator, said the compensation and refunds are being issued to more than 34,000 customers. It comes after customers with more than one electricity meter point in their homes were incorrectly charged more than they should have been between January 2019 and September 2024. Energy firms are allowed to apply multiple standing charges for homes with more than one electricity meter. However, this rule meant some customers were charged more than is allowed under the price cap when combined with unit rates. More than 20,000 Octopus Energy customers were overcharged and are being issued refunds totalling £2,636,884. Over 2,300 OVO Energy customers were also affected, with refunds totalling £602,066. The error also affected 8,272 Utility Warehouse customers, who received £2,043,098 in refunds or compensation. This is the full list of firms that were impacted by the error: Next Ecotricity EDF Energy Octopus Energy Outfox the Market OVO Energy So Energy Tru Energy Utility Warehouse Rebel Energy Millions of clueless Brits have no idea where the energy they use every day comes from Charlotte Friel, director of retail pricing and systems at Ofgem, said: "We expect all suppliers to have robust processes in place so they can bill their customers accurately. 'While it's clear that on this occasion errors were made, thankfully, the issues were promptly resolved, and customers are being refunded." Ofgem said all customers will be refunded automatically if they have not already been, and do not need to take action. If an affected customer has since changed supplier, they will be contacted by their previous supplier to arrange a refund. 2 A smartphone displays a customer's latest energy bill Credit: PA It is understood the vast majority of customers have been issued refunds but some are still being processed. All 10 suppliers who overcharged customers have updated their systems to prevent the error from happening again. It comes after Ofgem said this week more than 2,000 Good Energy customers were issued compensation worth on average £66 each after a billing error. The prepayment meter customers transferred to another energy firm or ended their contracts but did not receive final bills within six weeks, which is an Ofgem requirement. Customers were also not refunded credit balances. OTHER ENERGY FIRM FAILINGS Ofgem has collected more than £400million in payments since 2020 through its compliance and enforcement activities, with the money used to help struggling households with their bills. Back in September, OVO Energy was forced to pay out £378,512 to 1,395 customers over the historic failings. Impacted customers received around £271 on average. Ofgem found OVO took too long to address the almost 1,400 customer complaints, in some cases taking up to 18 months. TIPS TO KEEP ENERGY BILLS LOW Laura Court-Jones, Small Business Editor at Bionic shared her tips. 1. Turn your heating down by one degree You probably won't even notice this tiny temperature difference, but what you will notice is a saving on your energy bills as a result. Just taking your thermostat down a notch is a quick way to start saving fast. This one small action only takes seconds to carry out and could potentially slash your heating bills by £171.70. 2. Switch appliances and lights off It sounds simple, but fully turning off appliances and lights that are not in use can reduce your energy bills, especially in winter. Turning off lights and appliances when they are not in use, can save you up to £20 a year on your energy bills 3. Install a smart meter Smart meters are a great way to keep control over your energy use, largely because they allow you to see where and when your gas and electricity is being used. 4. Consider switching energy supplier No matter how happy you are with your current energy supplier, they may not be providing you with the best deals, especially if you've let a fixed-rate contract expire without arranging a new one. If you haven't browsed any alternative tariffs lately, then you may not be aware that there are better options out there. It also delayed actioning Energy Ombudsman decisions when complaints were upheld, Ofgem said at the time. Next was also ordered by Ofgem last June to pay £5million to customers who suffered poor customer service. The regulator said a review of the firm's customer service standards and complaints-handling across the sector uncovered "severe weaknesses", with customers facing long call waiting times and a high level of unanswered calls. More than 500,000 customers were potentially affected, according to Ofgem. The month before, Ofgem ordered Good Energy and OVO to pay out £2.7million to thousands of customers who were overcharged. Good Energy was found to have overcharged nearly 7,000 customers a total of £391,650 between January 2019 and October 2022. This was after the provider failed to adjust tariffs after customers changed their payment method.
Business Mayor
10-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Ten UK energy firms to pay £7m in compensation after overcharging error
Ten UK energy suppliers including EDF, and Octopus are to pay £7m in compensation and refunds after overcharging customers, after a review by the energy regulator for Great Britain. Ofgem said the suppliers had agreed to pay more than 34,000 customers compensation and refunds because of erroneously billing them more for standing charges than is allowed under the regulator's price cap. Standing charges are daily fees added regardless of how much energy is used. The affected customers all had restricted meter infrastructure, meaning more than one electricity meter point recording usage at their property, and were erroneously overcharged between January 2019 and September 2024. While energy suppliers are allowed to apply multiple standing charges for homes with multiple electricity meters, companies are not allowed to break Ofgem's price cap, which limits the maximum amount that can be charged in each unit of electricity or gas used. . Charlotte Friel, the director of retail and pricing systems at Ofgem, said: 'Our duty is to protect energy consumers, and we set the price cap for that very reason so customers don't pay a higher amount for their energy than they should. 'We expect all suppliers to have robust processes in place so they can bill their customers accurately. While it's clear that on this occasion errors were made, thankfully, the issues were promptly resolved, and customers are being refunded.' The 10 suppliers have agreed to pay out £5.6m in refunds and almost £1.4m in goodwill payments. Ofgem found that Octopus had the most customers affected by the error in overcharging, at 20,862 of the 34,048. The other suppliers to give refunds were Next, Ecotricity, EDF, Outfox the Market, Ovo Energy, Rebel Energy, So Energy, TruEnergy and Utility Warehouse. A spokesperson for Octopus apologised but added that it occurred on a 'particularly rare' type of meter, affecting only 0.3% of its customer base. 'Mistakes happen, and we're sorry when they do,' a spokesperson said. 'We were following one piece of Ofgem regulation but in doing so accidentally infringed another. We are glad to have now made it right for them.' Friel said the ruling served as a reminder to all energy suppliers that they must implement the price cap properly and 'do their due diligence'. She added: 'It also shows that, where appropriate, Ofgem is prepared to work with suppliers that fail to comply with our rules.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for energy consumers, said: 'No family should suffer the experience of being overcharged on their energy bills, and companies have an obligation to be accurate in their billing. This government is fighting for working people by driving up protections for consumers in the energy system. It is very important that Ofgem has today taken swift action to fine companies that overcharge consumers.' On Wednesday, Ofgem ordered Good Energy to pay £150,000 in total to former prepayment-meter customers because of a failure to issue final bills. Since 2014, Good Energy failed to send final bills to customers within six weeks of customers leaving the company, as is required under energy supplier licences. Ofgem found that 2,284 customers were affected and the average sum paid per customer was £66.
