Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH OCTOBER 2018 | 11 Interview I n an ideal world there would be no need for the Energy Ombudsman, Matthew Vickers concedes. As the incoming Energy Ombudsman, he is determined to see customer complaints sorted out long before they escalate to the stage where they reach his desk. As far as Vickers is concerned, the customer really is king, and energy retailers would do well to realise it. Vickers' new role will be as the chief executive and chief ombudsman designate at Ombudsman Services. As such he presides over a not-for-profit organisation with around 600 employees in total, which provides – as the name suggests – ombudsman services for a range of industries including communications and home improvement. The energy arm resolves the highest number of com- plaints of any scheme the company runs and, in some ways, has the hardest job. The Energy Ombudsman scheme is statutory, which means that it is approved by energy regulator Ofgem to independently handle dis- putes between energy companies and their customers. This includes domestic customers and micro-businesses. Any company in the energy sector can apply to be a member and, if they join, must abide by its rules. Ombudsman Services is funded by the companies it handles complaints for, made up from an annual sub- scription and a case fee for each complaint it accepts. The amount depends on the type of business and in which month of the financial year it joins the scheme. The Energy Ombudsman itself doesn't have the power to fine companies, but it can insist that a company reim- burses a customer up to £10,000. However, the most common award is much less – about £50. The chief executive job suits jaunty Vickers, who has spent a lifetime dealing with the public in various guises, beginning his career on a graduate scheme at supermarket chain Safeway, now owned by Morrisons. In between he's had a spell with the Foreign and Com- monwealth Office as the British Consul, initially in the Canary Islands and subsequently in Madrid. Then there's his role as chief executive of the Scottish Legal Com- plaints Commission from 2012 to 2015, where he has just moved from. "I have always worked in customer service and com- mercial environments in one form or another," he says, sitting down with Utility Week in a smart modern office block in Daresbury, Cheshire. "Retail is where I come from, and this is very interesting when you look at where energy is. Retail is all about understanding your custom- ers inside out." In his Consul job Vickers, who is fluent in Spanish, frequently dealt with life and death situations involving very vulnerable people among the three million or so tourists visiting the Canary Islands each year. "We'd

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