BAD ENERGY
Major energy supplier pays out £144 compensation to 250,000 customers after failing to give final bills and refunds
Keep scrolling to learn about how they were impacted
A MAJOR energy supplier will hand out £144 in compensation to 250,000 customers.
E.ON Next - part of the E.ON Energy Group - has been asked to pay up after it failed to give final bills and refunds to pre-payment meter customers.
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Almost a quarter of a million accounts were affected between February 2021 and September 2023, an investigation by energy regulator Ofgem found.
This was due to an error within its billing system, which E.ON Next self-reported to Ofgem.
Because of this issue, prepayment customers who transferred to another supplier or terminated their contract did not receive final bills within six weeks, as required under Ofgem’s rules.
This failure meant existing customers were not aware of extra cash left over on their accounts, the energy watchdog said.
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It was found that some 100,000 of the accounts were in credit, with an average of £51 left over.
Impacted customers have been contacted directly to inform them about the payment, E.ON said.
The company also agreed to voluntarily write off debt held by almost 150,000 prepayment meter customers who closed their accounts with the supplier from February 2021 and September 2023.
Where they have not been able to trace a customer, the firm said it has agreed to make charitable payments to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund.
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Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, said E.ON's actions were "unacceptable", especially at a time when customers are struggling with rising household bills.
She added: "E.ON Next has demonstrated an understanding of the significant impact this issue may have had on its customers, and it’s encouraging that they self-reported the issue and have worked with us to resolve it."
What are your rights if you're sent an incorrect bill?
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.
It also delayed actioning Energy Ombudsman decisions when complaints were upheld, Ofgem said at the time.
E.ON 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.
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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.
4 ways to keep your 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.
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