| Energy consumers may be missing out
on millions of pounds in unclaimed compensation over mistaken
energy bills and faulty meters, new research has found.
More than four million customers made complaints to the six
major energy suppliers in 2011, according to the report
by Which?, with mistakes on bills and inaccurate meter
readings causing the most hassle.
However, 90% of unsolved complaints are not taken to the
energy ombudsman for resolution, meaning that an estimated
£4 million in compensation may be going unclaimed.
According to Which?, real levels of customer dissatisfaction
are going under the radar because energy companies are not
obliged to publish the number of complaints they receive,
how long they took to resolve or what the issue was.
More than 20% of those surveyed who had suffered problems
with their energy supplier in the last year admitted they
did not make a complaint at all.
Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said - "Ofgem,
the energy regulator, should publish the truth about the full
level of complaints in this essential service.
"Energy suppliers should be held publicly accountable, on
a regular basis, for putting right the problems their customers
are reporting. It is a sign of the level of frustration with
this industry that so many people have a problem but don't
complain, even when they could be missing out on compensation."
Customers can take their complaints to the energy ombudsman
for free, but only if it remains unsolved after eight weeks
or the supplier sends a deadlock letter saying it can do no
more. Some 95% of complaints looked at by the ombudsman are
upheld and 70% of them receive financial redress.
An annual energy company satisfaction survey carried out
by Which? showed that the biggest six energy suppliers - British
Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON, Npower, SSE and Scottish Power - were
all rated poorly by their customers.
Only 41% of Npower customers said they were satisfied with
the company's service or likely to recommend it to others.
EDF Energy (43%) and Scottish Power (44%) did not do much
better. E.ON and British Gas both received the endorsement
of 47% of those surveyed, while SSE was the only 'big six'
company to satisfy more than half of its customers, with 51%.
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