Energy Industry Over-Regulated

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28736921

And this isn't even according to the energy companies...

GingerBob_3

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28736921

And this isn't even according to the energy companies...

Someone obviously made a typo - they meant to say UNDER-regulated.

naedanger

For there to be a competitive market customers need to be able to move efficiently from one provider to another. In this matter there seems to be for too little regulation.

There should be clear timescales that providers should be required to operate to (say two weeks plus the time taken for the customer to pay the final bill from when it is issued), with meaningful penalties for any delays beyond the agreed period (e.g. £20 per week late). The Ombudsman should also be given more powers to apply penalties where their rulings are ignored by the providers.

This is based on my experience of trying to move my gas and electricity supply to npower. It is about 10 months since I first applied and my transfer is still far from complete and npower are ignoring the timescales they agreed with the Ombudsman. (Npower have however closed my compliant, because they say they will complete the transfer in future in some unspecified timescale.)

JJ_Egan

Five transfers i have made all dead simple no problems at all .
But some customers do seem to fall into a black hole .

Bark01

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-releases/ofgem-leads-radical-shake-energy-switching-process

Its already covered. New regulations and systems to aid quicker switching will come into force by the end of the year.

There will still be a few black holes but if its the suppliers fault the customer will have a firmer legal footing to complain.

undaunted

GingerBob wrote: »

Someone obviously made a typo - they meant to say UNDER-regulated.

or perhaps ought to be regulated. Ofgem and associated "hangers on" (eg Consumer Focus, Energywatch, E.R.A. etc) have simply not proven themselves to be fit for purpose

naedanger

Bark01 wrote: »

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/press-releases/ofgem-leads-radical-shake-energy-switching-process

Its already covered. New regulations and systems to aid quicker switching will come into force by the end of the year.

There will still be a few black holes but if its the suppliers fault the customer will have a firmer legal footing to complain.

Thanks for this.

Based on the article it does not appear there will be any automatic fixed penalty on the suppliers it they miss the dates quoted.

It talks about "And from this August, new Ofgem rules come into force meaning suppliers could [note not "will"] face investigation and fines if they cannot meet these timescales." It would be better if there was a decent fixed penalty (say £20 per week late) that suppliers had to pay customers when the suppliers were late in switching. Then there would be an incentive for suppliers to fix their mistakes in a timely manner.

Bark01

naedanger wrote: »

Thanks for this.

Based on the article it does not appear there will be any automatic fixed penalty on the suppliers it they miss the dates quoted.

It talks about "And from this August, new Ofgem rules come into force meaning suppliers could [note not "will"] face investigation and fines if they cannot meet these timescales." It would be better if there was a decent fixed penalty (say £20 per week late) that suppliers had to pay customers when the suppliers were late in switching. Then there would be an incentive for suppliers to fix their mistakes in a timely manner.

Ofgem fines are generally based on the number/frequency of instances and the estimated cost to the consumer of any error.

A fixed penalty would be too hard to implement as how do you decide who’s at fault? It could be something wrong with the industry data/the current supplier/the new supplier not to mention plenty of errors occur on the customer side.

naedanger

Bark01 wrote: »

Ofgem fines are generally based on the number/frequency of instances and the estimated cost to the consumer of any error.

A fixed penalty would be too hard to implement as how do you decide who’s at fault? It could be something wrong with the industry data/the current supplier/the new supplier not to mention plenty of errors occur on the customer side.

I don't see how it can be too hard to decide who is at fault. In most cases it should be straightforward and if there is any dispute the Ombudsman can decide.

The alternative approach of basing the fines on number/frequency of instances still needs to know who was at fault to be fair.

Furthermore the estimated approach seems less transparent. How can a customer tell if their complaint is being counted in the system? (For example I have an unresolved complaint with npower. They closed this complaint without having completed any of the actions they agreed with the Ombudsman. I have no way of knowing whether or not this case is counted in Ofgem's statistics of outstanding complaints.)

EnergyPro

The big problem is that OFGEM do not understand the sales process enough therefore they are not able to police the industry efficiently.