Major UK energy provider ordered to pay £150 compensation to thousands of customers
An British energy company will pay 150 £ compensation to thousands of customers after not making a compulsory discount.
The regulator said that after Utilita did not make hot home discount payments in time, Billpayers should pay a total of £ 277,000.
Payments should be made between 2023 and 2024, but 4,000 customers did not receive them due to ili internal error in processing payments ”.
Shortly after the first identification of the error, Utilita paid £ 30,000 compensation to customers. However, he agreed to pay £ 247,000 to customers affected by Ofgem.
Founded in 2003, Utilita has approximately 800,000 customers in the UK and specializes in payment as smart energy meters. In 2008, the company started to install smart prepaid meters and 90 percent of its customers have currently used one.
The hot home discount scheme is managed by the government on behalf of the government and gives low -income people an automatic payment every year, which is applied by suppliers.
There are two ways to be qualified. The first is that those who pay invoice receive the guarantee of the pension loan. Otherwise, in addition to having ‘high energy costs’ evaluated by the government, a competence (containing universal credit) should benefit.
Ofgem’s latest supplier performance report sheds light on adapting to a hot home discount and reveals that seven other seven suppliers could not pass them in 2023 and 2024.
Combined compensation payments from these companies were £ 484,960. This figure includes compensation for affected customers, as well as payments given to Volunteer Compensation Fund or Poverty charities.
These are: Rebel Energy (11,583,14 £), Good Energy (3,394.34 £) Foxglove Energy (28.805.93 £), Green Energy (England) (England) (£ 18,183.38), tomato energy (40,183,38 £), auxiliary warehouse (£ 380,928.33) and Tru Energy (£ 18,183.38) 1.508.17).
Ofgem confirmed that these payments were already made.
“The hot home discount is a life line in low income, even a short delay in making these payments can harm the vulnerable customers, so it is vital for the suppliers to make these payments on time and weak.
“Unfortunately, on this occasion, Utilita remained below our standards by not being able to pay some of its customers on time. Utilita conducted a control of hot home discount processes to ensure that this was not happening again.
“It is our duty to protect consumers. And the results of today’s result and the findings specified in our supplier performance report serve as a reminder to all suppliers who cannot make plan payments on time, and we can do and do the application for customers.”
