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Customers UTILITY WEEK | 7TH - 13TH APRIL 2017 | 27 Regulators in the water, energy, telecommunications and financial services sectors are not doing enough to help vulnerable customers, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. In a new report, Vulnerable Customers in Regulated Indus- tries, the NAO summarises the challenges associated with an increasing volume of vulnerable customers in the UK. PAN-UTILITY NAO says regulators must do more to protect vulnerable customers According to its research, 11 per cent of consumers are now seeking support to pay their bills in at least three of the four regulated industries examined. Around 8 million UK consumers are considered to be overind- ebted and 32 per cent of consum- ers do not have sufficient savings to deal with an unexpected bill of £300 or more. This rises to 50 per cent for the unemployed and those receiving benefits or living in social housing. Among its key findings, the NAO also noted that around 1.6 million UK energy customers currently self-disconnect their prepayment meters to avoid running up large energy bills. NAO comptroller and auditor general Amyas Morse warned that a "significant number of vulnerable consumers are This week Ofgem moves to curb energy back-billing Proposed enforceable 12-month limit could be reduced further as smart meters roll out Ofgem has announced that it wants to stop energy suppliers back-billing custom- ers for energy used more than 12 months ago. The move has come partly as a result of concerns raised by customer champion Citizens Advice. The charity has repeat- edly warned that supplier billing and metering inac- curacies are leading to unfair back-bills. It also recently raised the alarm over back-bills received as a result of customers moving from "dumb" to smart metering. Ofgem's decision to enforce back-billing restrictions also shows that the regulator, and consumer groups, no longer believe the existing voluntary code of practice on back-billing provides sufficient protection for customers. Revealing Ofgem's plans to curb supplier scope for back-billing, the regulator's senior partner for consum- ers and competition, Rachel Fletcher, said: "Getting billing right is an essential part of customer service, but when things go wrong we want to ensure that all customers benefit from the same protection against back-billing. We cannot be certain that this is the case now under the voluntary commitment." Citizens Advice welcomed the news that Ofgem had finally heeded its warnings on back-bills. Chief executive Gillian Guy said: "We've long been calling on the regula- tor to introduce a mandatory time limit for back-bills instead of relying on voluntary action – which suppliers have refused to apply in some cases." Ofgem said it may move to further reduce the time period allowed for back-billing as the smart meter roll- out progresses. It is calling for stakeholder feedback on this, and the proposed enforceable 12-month limit, over the summer. JG WATER Four firms reverse 'spike' in complaints Written complaints to four water companies fell in the last quarter of 2016, reversing an "alarming" complaints spike. Figures reported to the Consumer Council for Water by Southern Water, Bournemouth Water, Welsh Water and Affinity Water show a drop in complaints between October and December 2016 compared with the same period in 2015. Southern reported a 53 per cent drop, Bournemouth stated a 35 per cent fall, Welsh Water curbed complaints by 18 per cent and Affinity Water showed a 13 per cent reduction. Water companies have been under increased pressure to improve their performance since the consumer watchdog demanded action be taken to curb an alarming spike in writ- ten complaints made against them during 2015/16. All four are now on track to reduce complaints in 2016/17. ENERGY Bristol Energy slams rivals over cap move A local authority-owned energy company has accused other providers of acting against the spirit of Ofgem's new prepay- ment price cap, which came into force on 1 April. The managing director of Bristol Energy, Peter Haigh, said he was "disappointed" that many other suppliers had raised their prices to meet the cap, rather than giving customers the best possible deal. The cap will vary for electric- ity and gas, by meter type and region. It has been introduced following a two-year investigation of the energy market by the Com- petition and Markets Authority. Ofgem claims the cap, which will be in place until the end of 2020, will save prepay customers an average of £80 a year. WATER Second application made for self-supply Hospitality company Whitbread Group has become the second business water customer to seek to supply its own water retail ser- vices in the newly opened market. The group, which has 1,081 supply points in England, has applied to Ofwat for a water sup- ply and sewerage licence with a retail authorisation limited to self- supply, which it said would enable it to "build on efficiency works already undertaken, while driving cost and consumption control" in the next phase of its water management strategy. Whitbread has entered a partnership agreement with Waterscan to take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions including meter read- ing, central market operating system transactions, wholesaler management, paying water and sewerage charges through the settlement process, and finding further water efficiency savings. Insufficient: protection from voluntary code particularly susceptible to bad outcomes or experiences from regulated services". These "bad outcomes" can include "dispro- portionately high bills, lack of access or choice, and debt". Responding to the findings, an Ofgem spokesperson said it is the regulator's "priority" to pro- tect consumers at the same time as delivering "a smarter, fairer and more competitive market".