Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Energy regulator Ofgem has announced that Hudson Energy Supply (HES) is to be issued a penalty of £1,668,426 for serious overcharging of business customers.
The regulator found that HES has failed its customers by with 10 breaches of licence conditions relating to a situation whereby HES had outsourced elements of its day-to-day customer operations without appropriate supervision.
Issues found included serious unjustified overcharging of customers, in one case of £22,500, as well as failure to return credit refunds owed, resulting in serious customer harm.
The vast majority of the money owed to customers has now been returned to affected customers. This detailed and thorough investigation by the regulator is just one of many enforcement cases undertaken by Ofgem.
Ofgem has found energy company HES has failed its customers by failing to comply with a number of important licence condition. These failings relate to a situation whereby HES had outsourced elements of its day-to-day customer operations without appropriate supervision
Issues found included serious unjustified overcharging of customers, in one case of £22,500, as well as failure to return credit refunds owed, resulting in serious customer harm The Energy regulator is now proposing to issue a £1,668,426 penalty to HES in respect to these serious breaches
Cathryn Scott, Director of Enforcement and Emerging Issues at Ofgem said “As part of our role as the energy regulator, we expect suppliers to comply with their obligations, including where they choose to outsource elements of their business. In this case a series of failings by HES has resulted in unacceptable outcomes for energy customers, with a number being unjustifiably overcharged by significant amounts, resulting in serious customer harm.”
“Through taking this action Ofgem is sending a firm signal to the market that it is not possible to outsource compliance with the licence conditions: the licence holder is responsible for any breaches and any harm caused to its customers.”
“This significant penalty should send a strong signal to all suppliers in the market to act with the utmost care and integrity when it comes to engaging and monitoring third parties carrying out important areas of their supply business on their behalf. This is a difficult time for all customers, and poor service and deliberate overcharging will simply not be tolerated.”