Guardian: “The number of customers complaining to the independent ombudsman about their energy bills has soared with more people making official complaints in the first six months of this year than the whole of last year put together.”
“Official complaints more than doubled to 22,671 in the first six months of 2014 from 10,598 in the previous six months. The 2013 total was 17,960.
Complaints to the ombudsman – who deals with disputes unresolved after at least eight weeks – also reached a record for one month at 4,124 in June, an increase of 216% on a year ago.
Chief energy ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith said: “The spike in complaints is in part a result of the rising cost of living, but also as a result of consumers becoming more aware of their rights and feeling more empowered to act and fight for a fair deal. Addressing these concerns is crucial to restoring consumer confidence in the sector.” Billing-related issues accounted for 84% (19,009) of complaints between January and June 2014. Transfer issues, over switching to a new energy provider, were the second largest cause for complaints at 13% (2,988).
….The ombudsman figures come a week after Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland said complaints about npower and Scottish Power doubled in the first three months of 2014. Complaints about npower rose from 306.8 for every 100,000 customers to 592, in the last quarter of 2013. The remaining members of the big six also fared badly. Complaints about Scottish Power rose from 100.5 per 100,000 customers to 197.7, followed by SSE (34.1), British Gas (75.4), E.ON (83.6) and EDF Energy (84.5).”
Future Today
