UK energy bill chaos as thousands to be paid £66 compensation

A British energy giant has been forced to pay a staggering £150,000 in compensation, following a major rule breach. A recent investigation by energy regular Ofgem found Good Energy had failed to provide final bills and refund credit balances to thousands of prepayment meter customers.

The probe discovered around 2,284 households were impacted by the breach from 2014 to October 2023 following an 'error' within its billing system. As a result, many customers who tried to transfer to another energy supplier or end their contract did not receive their final bill within six weeks - a strict Ofgem requirement.

Good Energy has agreed to pay £55,281 in customer compensation (which averages out at £66 per affected customer) as well as £94,786 to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund (EIVRS). This initiative helps support energy customers, especially those in 'vulnerable situations'.

Where it hasn't been possible to trace a customer entitled to compensation, Good Energy has agreed to make payments to the EIVRS. This totals to around two-thirds of the £94,786 charge, It is believed the issue was flagged after E.ON Next self-reported the same error to Ofgem last year - however, Good Energy has since updated its systems to 'rectify' the error.

Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, described Good Energy's failure to provide refunds as 'unacceptable. She criticised the firm for not providing refunds or final bills during a 'time when so many households are facing financial difficulty.

"Driving up standards for consumers across the board is our top priority, and improving billing accuracy is a key part of this," Beth added. "We also expect suppliers to make sure they have robust systems in place to limit the risk of issues like this happening and to proactively report problems when they arise."

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If you think you have been impacted by Good Energy's failures, you should contact the company to see whether you're entitled to compensation. Remember, under the Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSoP) you are now entitled to a payment of £40 within 10 working days if your supplier does not issue a final bill within six weeks of them no longer having responsibility for the supply of electricity or gas.

"We were dismayed to find the billing system issue causing these prepayment customers to have not received their final statements and we deeply apologise to all those affected," Good Energy chief executive Nigel Pocklington said. "As soon as the issue was identified we put in place a manual process to ensure it did not continue and have since made changes to make sure it does not happen again."

Following years of spiralling energy costs, Labour has finally shed light on its bold plans to cut costs by £300 annually by 2030. As previously reported, Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh responded to queries about its plans to 'break dependence' from global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers.

"The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030," the politician said. "This, combined with our Warm Homes Plan to upgrade millions of homes to make them warmer and cheaper to run is how we will drive down energy bills and make cold homes a thing of the past."

Part of the initiative includes more funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which offers grants to support the transition from fossil fuel heating systems to heat pumps or biomass boilers. This would allow households to receive £7,500 towards an air source heat pump, £7,500 towards a ground source heat pump, or £5,000 towards a biomass boiler - which could knock £100 off annual energy bills.

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