FU failed to comply with ombudsman

greatswift2

A few months back i started the process of dealing with a complaint(actually several) with my energy duel fual provider..first-utility.

Followed the due process eventually getting to gridlock and filing with the energy ombudsman.

Beginning of last month, the 1st, the final decision was completed in my favor and FU were given instructions to resolve the complaints within 28days, the 2 key points were;

1, to supply a full statement of my account from the date of joining explaining why my tariff changed without notice at the points of change, the price variances within the same tariff and an apology for not informing me of any price or tariff change.

2, to recalculate my account on the original tariff charges i signed up to.
2a, to pay compensation of £150 as reimbursement for the tariff changes or the difference in the recalculation whichever is higher.

Lo and behold, unsurprisingly the 28days to comply have now passed, i have received nothing from FU.

Any idea what the next step is, the last conversation i had with the EO advisor stated that as they accepted the terms that was the end of his involvement, i am not getting any responses to my emails or messages left to the EO advisor.

naedanger

greatswift2 wrote: »

A few months back i started the process of dealing with a complaint(actually several) with my energy duel fual provider..first-utility.

Followed the due process eventually getting to gridlock and filing with the energy ombudsman.

Beginning of last month, the 1st, the final decision was completed in my favor and FU were given instructions to resolve the complaints within 28days, the 2 key points were;

1, to supply a full statement of my account from the date of joining explaining why my tariff changed without notice at the points of change, the price variances within the same tariff and an apology for not informing me of any price or tariff change.

2, to recalculate my account on the original tariff charges i signed up to.
2a, to pay compensation of £150 as reimbursement for the tariff changes or the difference in the recalculation whichever is higher.

Lo and behold, unsurprisingly the 28days to comply have now passed, i have received nothing from FU.

Any idea what the next step is, the last conversation i had with the EO advisor stated that as they accepted the terms that was the end of his involvement, i am not getting any responses to my emails or messages left to the EO advisor.

I don't have the answer but am in a very similar position.

In my case, the EO gave npower 28 days to implement a number of actions to resolve my complaint. The 28 days ended on 11 July and now, 56 days after the deadline, npower are still far from resolving the problem and ignoring my questions. (Despite the fact that npower had implemented none of the EO's actions they recorded the complaint as resolved in their official statistics, knowing this was untrue.)

I too have found the EO to be ineffective and uninterested in seeing their decisions implemented.

If you find an effective next step I will be interested.

greatswift2

naedanger wrote: »

I don't have the answer but am in a very similar position.
If you find an effective next step I will be interested.

Still googling and starting to get the idea that there is no further steps, if they dont comply then oh well, there is no recourse for them.
Personally i have just cancelled my direct debit and informed them they will get paid when i do lol.
The only information i could find was the parliamentary outline on the purpose of the ombudsman:
parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN06428.pdf

which states in a section about appealing (see bold):

2.2 Appealing against EO final decisions This is not advised. Ombudsman services are designed to be where the buck stops, as the Library notes on the Parliamentary Ombudsman and Local Government Ombudsman outline.
Note also that if the consumer does not accept the EO’s final decision they lose the right to any remedy offered. The EO’s own advice is:5
The ombudsman’s final decision signifies the end of our process. The ombudsman’s final decision cannot be challenged and there is no right of appeal. It is the consumer’s decision whether or not they want to accept the ombudsman’s final decision, we allow up to 28 days for a response. If the consumer accepts our final decision you have 28 days to carry out all of the actions. We will continue to work with you and the consumer to make sure that this happens. If the consumer decides not to accept our final decision they lose the right to the resolutions offered but can complain in another way, to the courts for example [emphasis added]. In this situation we have no further involvement in the complaint and the case is closed.
So in summary, someone can ask the EO to reconsider their initial decision once, but once they reach ‘final decision’ stage there is very little further recourse. The EO is designed to be the final arbiter, so in fact there are only three possible courses of further action:
• judicial review (not recommended because this is complex and expensive)
• giving up on the EO process and pursuing the case through other means, e.g. by the normal courts
• the other course of action is to complain about an ombudsman’s standards of service, or the way the case was handled by the EO (e.g. about delays, but not against the decision itself).

What exactly we can do in a court i dont know, i assume it would be a small claims court which seems like alot of hassle and probably exactly what these power companies realise, they just ignore it we will go away.

pc1271

I'd go for small claims court if you can calculate what you're owed. I've never done it, but I understand it's a lot easier than you might think and costs very little.

naedanger

greatswift2 wrote: »

Still googling and starting to get the idea that there is no further steps, if they dont comply then oh well, there is no recourse for them.

Thanks for the parliamentary outline on the purpose of the Ombudsman. Since we are not actually complaining about the EO's decision but rather the delays there does seem to be a next step. Namely:

"the other course of action is to complain about an ombudsman’s standards of service, or the way the case was handled by the EO (e.g. about delays, but not against the decision itself)."

The EO is supposed to "continue to work with you and the consumer to make sure that this happens." In our cases the EO is not doing this so it seems we can complain about the EO's service.

However it is not clear who or how to complain about the EO's poor service. I intend to send the EO's CEO a letter outlining my complaint about his organisation's service and asking him to confirm the correct process for this complaint to be registered and considered.

hra_2

There does seem to be a complaints procedure for the Ombudsman which covers service standards such as delays and failure to keep you informed:
http://www.ombudsman-services.org/service-standards.html

and it has an escalation path ending up with an Independent Assessor.

Hopefully "Any other shortfall" also covers failure to enforce.

pooch

greatswift2 wrote: »

A few months back i started the process of dealing with a complaint(actually several) with my energy duel fual provider..first-utility.

Followed the due process eventually getting to gridlock and filing with the energy ombudsman.

Beginning of last month, the 1st, the final decision was completed in my favor and FU were given instructions to resolve the complaints within 28days, the 2 key points were;

1, to supply a full statement of my account from the date of joining explaining why my tariff changed without notice at the points of change, the price variances within the same tariff and an apology for not informing me of any price or tariff change.

2, to recalculate my account on the original tariff charges i signed up to.
2a, to pay compensation of £150 as reimbursement for the tariff changes or the difference in the recalculation whichever is higher.

Lo and behold, unsurprisingly the 28days to comply have now passed, i have received nothing from FU.

Any idea what the next step is, the last conversation i had with the EO advisor stated that as they accepted the terms that was the end of his involvement, i am not getting any responses to my emails or messages left to the EO advisor.

Next step? Back to the ombudsman. You should have the name and contact number of the individual there who originally finalised your resolution. Call, don't email.

Otherwise write to him/her recorded delivery.

Btw, I think (2) is far too wishy washy and I would not have agreed to that.
I accept the idea that you will get either £150 or the difference in the calculation, whichever is greater, but I would have asked the ombudsman to have ensured he got that calculation and so it was clear exactly how much was owed to you. (and you and the ombudsman could have had an opportunity to review such calculation to ensure it was correct)
Actually I'd probably have pushed for £150 or say £50 plus the calculated figure, whichever was higher.
Either way, I would want to know the exact resolution in detail, not "sort it all out in 28 days".
It doesn't take 28 days to do the calculation, in fact is shouldn't take 28 minutes!
All that is needed is the original tariff details, (they will have that) and the period & consumption that would already be detailed in the existing bill.
Existing bills will detail what they have actually already charged you.

If I were the supplier and I was so minded, I would ensure that any calculation I now do is less than £150 difference knowing you can't argue against it, and limiting my cost in this respect to the £150.

greatswift2

Yer i must admit after i accepted the decision on the telephone i sat down and thought better but felt the £150 would more than cover the discrepencies which by my calculation is only approx £60.

I have been back, rather tried to go back to the ombudsman calling and emailing, every phone call answered is by a different person to the original, sanjay lalli, messages are left with the other person fro him to cal me back, which so far has not happened, original message was left last monday.

Will give them further calls and emails next week and FU til friday to sort it out, after that point i will probably also contact the CEO myself. I dont particulalry want to complain about the EO as i felt uptil now they did a good job but they are failing to follow up with the final steps and ensure enforcement.

Alex444

You can pursue them through Small Claims Court via a lawyer, costs claimed through Household Insurance.

Claim would be for stress and worry in dealing with them, costs incurred by you, this would be £xx per letter, £xx per e-mail, £xx per hour you have spent writing letters, waiting on phone.

EO is an utter waste of time and FU seem to be incapable of setting up any channel of communication.

chanz4

Alex444 wrote: »

You can pursue them through Small Claims Court via a lawyer, costs claimed through Household Insurance.

Claim would be for stress and worry in dealing with them, costs incurred by you, this would be £xx per letter, £xx per e-mail, £xx per hour you have spent writing letters, waiting on phone.

EO is an utter waste of time and FU seem to be incapable of setting up any channel of communication.

you dont always stress with everything, do you claim for when the lottery is been drawn for the stress waiting?

cing0

Use the complaints process at the EO (link given by other poster) about poor service and failing to explain how an enforceable final decision you've accepted is enforced.
Also, count the number of ignored phone calls, messages left, emails ignored etc and put that in your complaint.

Don't ring or post - use email or ask for secure portal access which gives you the ability to secure message the EO. They have a fixed service complaints process so if they don't acknowledge your complaint within a few days, take it up with the Independent Assessor ia @AT@ ombudsman-services.org

Regarding enforcement, Email ofgem angela.pascoe @AT@ ofgem.gov.uk to tell the you want your decision enforced.

You could threaten FU (or their lawyers https://www.osborneclarke.com) with a money claim online, giving them 2 weeks and then sue them for the £150 but I've no actual experience doing that on a final decision. Note a court case is based on FACTUAL loss or money owed and you can't claim for stress and worry unless you can actually cost it.