A BIG energy supplier has paid out £1,000s in compensation to customers after failing to give them final bills and refunds.
Good Energy has issued 2,284 of its around 200,000 customers compensation worth on average £66 each.
It comes after an investigation carried out by Ofgem, the regulator, found these customers, who were on prepayment meters, were affected by a billing error.
The error saw these customers transferring to another energy firm or ending their contracts not receive final bills within six weeks which is an Ofgem requirement.
Customers were also not refunded credit balances.
The error affected customers over a nearly 10-year period, between 2014 and October 2023.
The more than 2,000 affected customers have now been paid compensation worth on average £66 each.
A further £94,786 has been paid by Good Energy to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund (EIVRS).
The EIVRS funds projects and schemes to support energy consumers, particularly those in vulnerable situations.
Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, said: “At a time when so many households are facing financial difficulty, it’s unacceptable that Good Energy failed to provide refunds of money that was owed to customers, compensation they were due, and final bills they were entitled to.
“Driving up standards for consumers across the board is our top priority, and improving billing accuracy is a key part of this.
“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.”
It comes after E.ON Nextwas asked to cough up £144 in compensation to 250,000 customers following the same error.
Almost a quarter of a million accounts were affected between February 2021 and September 2023.
E.ON Next self-reported the error to Ofgem.
Nigel Pocklington, chief executive of Good Energy, said: “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.
“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.
“We have also made every effort to provide due compensation to affected customers.
“This includes goodwill sums in excess of their potential credit balance plus interest, and the General Standards of Performance payments all customers who do not receive final statements in time.”
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.
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.
Four 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.