Npower fined £2m over complaints

31 October 2011 Last updated at 04:06 ET

Ofgem said the industry had been tarnished by poor behaviour

The energy regulator Ofgem has fined Npower £2m for failing to handle complaints properly.

Ofgem said Npower had not recorded complaints properly or given dissatisfied complainers details of the Energy Ombudsman’s redress service.

It added that Npower had now remedied all of the breaches of the regulations for which it was fined.

A spokesman for NPower said: “We are very sorry, we let our high standards slip on this occasion.”

“A small number of processes were not correctly adhered to. We have zero tolerance for this type of issue and we’ll continue to work hard to make sure our customers are put first.”

Ofgem said it was also investigating the way EDF Energy handles complaints.

The regulator fined British Gas £2.5m in July for the same offence.

“Energy suppliers now have a golden opportunity to convince consumers that they can be trusted, by getting behind Ofgem’s sweeping reforms for the retail market,” said Sarah Harrison from Ofgem.

“This is the quickest way of restoring consumer trust in an industry badly tarnished by poor supplier behaviour.”

Ofgem introduced new regulations governing the handling of complaints in October 2008, which set out minimum standards that customers should expect if they make a complaint.

They were supposed to complement the work of the Energy Ombudsman, which was established in 2003 to deal with complaints that could not be resolved by the companies themselves.

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