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Ofgem investigation into npower needs to tackle problems with shock bills

19 Mehefin 2014

Citizens Advice has highlighted the impact bill shock has on stretched households as Ofgem opens a welcome investigation into npower’s ongoing billing problems.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:

“Exposing customers to bill shock is completely unacceptable and can throw household budgets into disarray.  For people struggling to make ends meet, finding hundreds of pounds to pay a large bill out of the blue can be impossible.

“We welcome Ofgem’s intention to tackle this with energy companies.  Our energy complaints league table shows just how poorly npower customers have been served.  The most recent data found npower had received ten times as many complaints as the best performing energy company, despite their activity to correct this.  

“Providing accurate bills and dealing with problems quickly are the basics of decent customer service for energy suppliers. npower is a long way from providing that at the moment.  npower needs put things right much more quickly and compensate customers for the problems caused.

“As part of Ofgem’s investigation we will continue to provide the regulator with evidence from consumers about their experiences with npower and all energy suppliers.”

Last month Citizens Advice revealed that more complaints were made about npower than any other large energy supplier last year.

The latest energy complaints league table, published by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, based on complaints made in October to December 2013 found:

  • npower received 306 complaints for every 100,000 customers meaning one in every 326 customers made a complaint to npower.
  • Ten times as many complaints were made about npower compared to SSE, who topped the table with 31 complaints per 100,000 customers.   
  • Three times as many complaints were made about npower than the second worst performing supplier, Scottish Power.
  • Scottish Power slipped from being the second best performing supplier in June to September 2013 to the second worst in the following three months.  
  • There were twice as many complaints about npower by the end of 2013 compared to the start of last year.

Notes to editors:

  1. Data is weighted ratio per 100,000 customers.  Weightings have been allocated to reflect the seriousness of the complaint and the time and effort spent by the consumer to get their problem resolved. The weightings in the model place greater emphasis on situations where the consumer has had to repeatedly contact their supplier, or another agency, because the company has failed to deal with their problem. The measures used in the model are outlined in the methodology.
  2. Citizens Advice now holds Consumer Futures a statutory duty to provide information to consumers. The performance model to accurately illustrate relative energy company performance which will give consumers access to the information they need to make informed switching decisions. We believe it is essential that the performance model reflects all elements of the new complaint handling regime and uses a basket of measures including those from independent bodies.
  3. Citizens Advice will provide evidence from consumers who contact the Citizens Advice consumer service and Extra Help Unit.
  4. This year the Citizens Advice service celebrates its 75th anniversary. We’ve planned a year of activity running from January to December 2014. Contact the press office to find out more.
  5. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
  6. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
  7. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at www.adviceguide.org.uk
  8. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
  9. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.1 million clients on 6.6 million problems from April 2012 to March 2013. For full 2012/2013 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
  10. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 22,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.