Utility Week

Customers UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JULY 2019 | 25 Severn Trent has apologised to residents of a small village in Leicestershire aer traces of E coli were found in their water supply. About 30 homes in the New Causeway, Barkestone le Vale, were without running water from Friday 5 July aer the WATER Severn Trent apologises after contamination incident water become contaminated fol- lowing routine maintenance. A spokesperson for Severn Trent said the work "caused some dirt to get into the water pipe" and one of its samples "indicated that the water did not meet the high standards we expect". As a precaution, while it dis- infected the affected section of pipe with chlorine, Severn Trent asked customers at 30 properties not to drink their water. Severn Trent confirmed that a trace amount of E Coli had been detected. Samples were taken over This week Service failings cost Green Star £350k Supplier to compensate 1,800 customers who could not access their accounts and lower tariffs Green Star Energy is to pay out £350,000 aer more than 1,800 of its customers were le unable to access their accounts and cheaper tariffs. The supplier, launched in 2013 as a subsidiary of Hud- son Energy Supply UK, part of Just Energy Group, was made aware of the issues but failed to adequately address the failings or report them to Ofgem. Ofgem says it was made aware that Green Star had not updated records of customers in the private rental market aer a change of tenancy. The customers did not receive welcome packs including account details. This le tenants on deemed contracts – usually the most expensive tariff – and unable to access potential savings by switching tariff and/or supplier. Those who tried to contact Green Star may not have been able to clear data protection to access their accounts and check the progress on their enquiries, the regulator said. Ofgem raised its concerns with the supplier and Green Star has since engaged with the regulator to iden- tify and address the problems. Green Star will pay each affected customer £60, a total of £109,740 in compensation, and make a voluntary contribution of £240,260 to the energy redress fund. Ofgem added that it would not take formal enforcement action, considering the steps the company has taken to address its failings and the redress it has agreed to pay. Richard Neudegg, head of regulation at Uswitch.com, said: "Nearly 2,000 renters could have been stuck on a more expensive tariff because critical information about cheaper deals and switching, required by the regulator, wasn't provided by their own supplier. "More concerningly, a staggering 40 per cent of rent- ers have never switched supplier – they have almost certainly been paying far more than they need to." AJ ENERGY Vulnerable need not be costly to serve Energy companies should stop viewing vulnerable customers as expensive, Ofgem's head of consumer policy has said. Meghna Tewari described this catch-all view as a "cop-out" but one that remained sadly preva- lent across the sector. Speaking at Utility Week's Consumer Vulnerability Confer- ence, Tewari said there was a clear business case for suppliers to promote the accessibility of their service. Lord Larry Whitty, chair of the Commission for Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances (CCVC), called for a tighter regulatory framework to support those most in need. However, he stressed that the industry needed to set standards above and beyond that structure. He also talked about the need to ensure price comparison websites were set up to deal with vulnerable consumers and suggested a Kitemark-type system to alert users to websites that could cater for particular complex needs. Both the CCVC and Ofgem have published reports in the past two months that assess the industry's ability to serve vulner- able consumers. The regulator's proposals include a use-it-or-lose-it £30 million innovation fund specifi- cally targeted at this issue. Also, Tewari said Ofgem was develop- ing an analytical framework of customer archetypes to ensure companies understood a broad range of needs. However, she said the most fundamental step necessary to start the process was to stop seeing vulnerable customers as a high-cost issue. "I think there is a business case for serving certain catego- ries of vulnerable customers," she said. "Scope, for example, say consumers who are disabled are more likely to switch to a pro- vider with better accessibility." WATER Water complaints up for second year Complaints in the water retail market have risen for a second year, CCWater has found. The water watchdog criticised the poor performance of the market's biggest retailer, Water Plus, along with Clear Business Water and Everflow. All three companies had a 20 per cent increase in written complaints in 2018/19. At Water Plus, the worst performing company, there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of complaints received, based on the number of cus- tomer supply points. CCWater investigated 21 complaints against the retailer – seven more than any other company – as it struggled to resolve billing problems. The company has since implemented an action plan, but CCWater says this needs to deliver "substantial improve- ments" in the coming year. Clear Business Water was the worst performer for complaints made to CCWater while Everflow was criticised in the report for its slow response to customers. Some customers were unable to switch tariffs the weekend before restrictions were lied. Bottled water was provided in the interim. "We're incredibly sorry this has happened," said the spokes- person. "We know that this is a huge inconvenience for everyone affected, but water quality is of paramount importance."

• Cover