Tuesday 27 November 2012

E.ON pays back £1.4m to 94,000 customers

E.ON is set to pay a total of £1.4 million to around 94,000 customers for incorrectly charging them.

In a statement released today, the energy firm apologised for extra charges added to consumers' bills, who left the company following the price hikes in 2008 and 2011.

Under Ofgem rules, suppliers have to give customers 30 days notice of a price rise to give them a chance to switch. If a customer chooses to move supplier within that period of time, they should not be charged exit fees or the higher prices even if the switch occurs after the price rise.

Sarah Harrison, Ofgem’s Senior Partner in charge of enforcement said: “Ofgem has put in place protections for consumers so they can get a fair warning if their supplier puts up prices and time to shop around for a better deal... Today’s announcement that E.ON will compensate customers is a positive step by the company to put right their mistakes and is welcome.”

E.ON has accepted its failure to meet the rules, which means customers who have been overcharged will be given an average refund of £14.83.

David Bird, Customer Service Director at E.ON UK said: "We are very sorry to have let down some of our former customers and have made clear that we will refund the money plus interest. Our systems are being updated to ensure this mistake can never happen again.

"We've been open in our failure with the energy regulator Ofgem and are pleased to have agreed with them how we can put this right and have identified all customers who are due to receive payment from us in January."

In addition, E.ON has agreed to make an extra payment of around £300,000 as a “goodwill gesture” to a consumer fund which they run in partnership with Age UK.