Customers to receive £1.2m payout from energy firm

Energy customers are being compensated by E.ON. Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Ofgem said the firm had come forward voluntarily to admit that it had not compensated customers after missing appointments, which breaks the regulator’s Guaranteed Standards rules - and said it had agreed a package of compensation with E.ON without having to use enforcement action.

Ofgem said the supplier had since improved its customer services processes and added that the charity payment includes helping service personnel through National Energy Action’s ‘Help for Heroes’ scheme, as well as Citizens Advice.

The Guaranteed Standards require suppliers to meet minimum standards of customer service, including when they need to visit customers’ premises. If suppliers fall short of these standards, they must pay customers compensation of £20 for a failed gas appointment and £22 for a failed electricity appointment.

Ofgem’s chief executive Dermot Nolan said: “E.ON fell well short of the high standards we expect for consumers when it missed appointments and then failed to compensate customers.

“It’s crucial that suppliers provide their customers with a fast and effective service, and make amends when things go wrong.”

A spokesman for E.ON said: “As part of the Guaranteed Standards, we make a payment to our customers when our representatives don’t arrive at a customer’s property for an appointment when we say they will. We also make a further payment to the customer if the initial payment is not made within 10 working days.

“As outlined in the Ofgem statement, we identified and updated Ofgem that we had not consistently made these payments,”

He added: “To fix this we have written to customers who have been affected to say sorry, explain what has happened and to give them a cheque for the missing amounts.”

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