Letters sent to hundreds of UK households as energy firm to pay out £378,000 in compensation
manchestereveningnews.co.ukOver a thousand customers of a major energy provider are to receive compensation after it was hit with a £2.37 million penalty by the industry watchdog over complaint handling failures.
According to Ofgem, the energy sector regulator, 1,395 Ovo customers were affected by lengthy delays in seeing their complaints addressed – in some cases up to 18 months.
It said there were also delays in Ovo actioning the Energy Ombudsman’s decision, when complaints eventually were processed. READ MORE: Martin Lewis warns 'complaints are through the roof' because of broken smart meters Jacqui Gehrmann, deputy director of retail compliance at Ofgem, said: “Ovo failed to adequately protect and respond to their customers when it was needed most.
This is not acceptable. “Consumers deserve a clear and timely response when they make a complaint, and that’s why we stepped in quickly when we identified that Ovo’s performance was falling below acceptable standards.” Ofgem first contacted Ovo in June last year after receiving reports of concerns over the time taken to address complaints referred by Citizens Advice Scotland, as well as to action decisions from the Energy Ombudsman.
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