MILLIONS of Brits could be owed money after around £200million of consumer credit was lost when energy suppliers collapsed.
Energy regulator Ofgem admitted that millions of pounds worth of credit has disappeared following the collapse of 29 firms.
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More than 4million households have been impacted by the failure of their energy supplier since the beginning of last year.
Those customers were moved to a new supplier, and were told to wait for any credit on their old accounts to be transferred.
But it has since emerged that £54million of consumer cash has been identified as missing so far.
Ofgem boss Jonathan Brearley yesterday said he expects that figure to rise to £200million.
The regulator last week announced that average household bills will soar by £693 a year when the energy price cap rises in April.
Of that figure, £2.45 is to make up for the £54million black hole that has been discovered.
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Giving evidence to a business committee hearing, Mr Brearley said that the balance that customers pay to their supplier should have been ring fenced.
A decade ago the Government and Ofgem tried to push down energy bills by letting new small companies compete with the old players.
That helped break up the stranglehold that the bigger firms had.
But many of the new firms have gone out of business in recent months, squeezed by high energy prices, but some were also poorly run.
“With hindsight we would have done something differently,” Mr Brearley told MPs.
What are your rights if your balance is missing?
Customers were told to wait until they were given a new supplier when their old one collapsed.
You should also have been asked to keep a record of your meter reading and any credit you had.
Ofgem confirmed at the time that all consumer credit balances will be protected.
If you haven’t been contacted about your money, and several weeks have passed, you should get in touch with your new supplier to ask when it will be returned.
The time it takes depends on what information your old energy firm provided.
Ofgem doesn’t enforce a timetable for when your balance should be returned to you when you’re moved on to a new supplier.
However it tries to ensure new suppliers act as quickly as possible.
Ofgem can’t get involved in individual consumer cases.
If you’re not happy with the way your case has been dealt with you can raise a formal complaint with your supplier.
If, after eight weeks, you’re still not satisfied with the response you could take the matter to the Energy Ombudsman by escalating your complaint online.
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