UK gas and electricity providers E.On Next, Good Energy, and Octopus Energy have been mandated to pay £8m due to their failure to provide timely compensation for delayed final bills when customers switched providers, according to an announcement from the regulator, Ofgem.
Ofgem stated that over 100,000 households were impacted as these three energy suppliers either missed the deadline or postponed compensation payments due to not providing a final bill within the six-week period, a requirement when a customer switches to a different provider.
Regulations established three years prior entitle customers to a £30 payment each if a final bill isn’t produced within six weeks. Additionally, a further £30 is due if the compensation isn’t provided within another 10 working days.
According to Ofgem, the three companies either failed to make or delayed compensation payments totalling £6.3m, leaving some of the affected households waiting for over a year to receive their due redress.
The suppliers also contributed an additional £1.7m either directly to customers or to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme (EIVRS), a scheme aimed at supporting vulnerable consumers.
