Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH FEBRUARY 2018 | 23 Customers This week Iresa under fire for abrupt price hikes Small supplier accused of hitting customers with unexpected demands for one-off payments N ew entrant energy sup- plier Iresa has hit some of its customers with demands for one-off payments totalling hundreds of pounds, sparking a furious reaction from consumer groups and criticism of Ofgem for the way it regulates small suppliers. At the end of January, Iresa abruptly hiked the direct debits of some customers and demanded one-off payments from others. Some were hit with both. Those affected vented their anger online and claimed the company was not answering calls. Alex Neil, Which? managing director of home prod- ucts and services, said: "It's unacceptable for any energy supplier to be notifying its customers it's taking large sums from their account at short notice, and then have its customers struggle to contact them when they call." Victoria MacGregor, director of energy at Citizens Advice, added: "The standard practice for suppliers is to spread these payments out over a number of months. Instead, Iresa customers received bills out of the blue. "Citizens Advice referred the supplier to Ofgem for its poor customer service in November, following numerous complaints about billing, long phone queues and inap- propriately blocking customers from switching." Doug Stewart, chief executive of small supplier Green Energy UK, called on Ofgem to introduce "some sensible stress-testing of energy suppliers". An Ofgem spokesperson said it was discussing the issue with Iresa, which reportedly told Which? it would respond to customers' queries "as soon as possible". AC ENERGY Ofgem investigation into Ovo Energy Ofgem has launched an inves- tigation into the consumption information Ovo Energy gave some of its customers. This includes the estimates the supplier gave customers about how much energy they used during winter 2016/17, and the accuracy of the annual consumption figures it published in the annual statements it sent out to them. When approached, a spokes- person for Ovo said: "We have a great track record in customer service and are always open to ways to improve it." Ofgem said the opening of the investigation did not imply it had made any findings about non-compliance by Ovo. WATER Water bills to rise by 2 per cent The average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales for 2018/19 is set to rise by 2 per cent (£9) to £405 as the water sector commits to cut- ting leakage and improving the environment. Water UK said more than £8 billion would be invested in the water industry this year, while bills would increase by less than inflation. The investment will go towards a £44 billion spending commitment over the five years of the current price review to 2020. Water UK said the change to average bills was within the context of an overall cut of 5 per cent in real terms between 2015 and 2020 as part of five-year plans confirmed by Ofwat in 2014. ENERGY Safeguard tariff comes into effect A safeguard tariff, which is set in line with Ofgem's vulnerable customer cap, came into effect on 2 February. Announced by Ofgem last October, it is designed to reduce the energy bills of one million vulnerable households on stand- ard variable tariffs (SVTs). The safeguard tariff already applies to customers on prepayment meters. However, 500,000 low- income households will miss out on the safeguard price cap, according to National Energy Action, because they are of working age and so do not auto- matically qualify for the Warm Home Discount (WHD), which is the basis Ofgem is using to determine eligibility for the safeguard tariff. In addition, the number of WHD discounts is capped and smaller suppliers do not have to provide it. Bills arrived 'out of the blue' I am the customer Chris Thewlis "A complaint is a valuable opportunity to gain insight" According to Ofgem, 52 per cent of energy customers who made a complaint were planning to switch or had switched as a result of their experience. Equally, the Institute of Customer Service says four out of five customers spread the word if a complaint has been handled badly. It's therefore good commer- cial sense to listen to complaints and make sure they are resolved first time, and well. But, more than this, com- plaints present our industry with That's why anyone who's had an issue gets my contact details, and why I've put my name and contact details front and centre of the complaints section of Npower's website: I'm actively seeking out any opportunity to hear from customers. We've had some well-publicised services issues, but by listening closely to our customers, we're seeing our customer satisfaction improve day by day. Chris Thewlis, director of customer service and sales (domestic), Npower a real commercial opportunity: they let us hear first-hand about a problem with our service, product or processes – and that gives us the chance to investi- gate and improve. For a long time, the utility industry – Npower included – might have seemed like it wanted to prevent customers complaining, by burying tele- phone numbers in the small print on bills, or in an obscure part of the website. The impres- sion was that we wanted to avoid speaking to customers. At Npower, we've realised that is not only deeply annoy- ing, but also means we might be missing out on insights.

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