One million households to get energy bill refunds after 18 suppliers broke switching rules – are you due money back?

MORE than one million households are due refunds on their energy bills after 18 suppliers were found to have broken switching rules.

It comes after energy regulator Ofgem ruled these customers were overcharged £7.2million collectively.

Over one million households are due refunds following the Ofgem rulingCredit: Alamy

In total, the energy firms who were found to be in breach are issuing refunds, and goodwill gestures in some cases, worth £10.4million.

Where suppliers haven’t been able to process refunds, they’ve agreed to make payments to the energy redress fund.

Ofgem found 18 suppliers failed to correctly protect customers’ tariff prices when they decided to switch supplier or tariff between 2013 and 2020.

Energy firms who were in breach of its price protection rules include the Big Six suppliers – British Gas, E.On, EDF, npower, SSE and Scottish Power.

Which energy suppliers were in breach of Ofgem rules?

THE energy suppliers, number of customers affected, and redress payments are as follows:

Bristol Energy:
Number of customers affected: 12,617
Total overcharged: £55,982.64
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £56,552.64

British Gas/Centrica:
Number of customers affected: 141,415
Total overcharged: £391,176.79
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £1,269,095.47

E (Gas and Electricty):
Number of customers affected: 20,870
Total overcharged: £68,777.23
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £72,772.93

E.On:
Number of customers affected: 28,126
Total overcharged: £181,668.29
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £238,884.29

EDF:
Number of customers affected: 79,083
Total overcharged: £465,441.36
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £516,191.55

Engie:
Number of customers affected: 9,061
Total overcharged: £12,803.98
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £21,218.74

ESB Energy:
Number of customers affected: 1,961
Total overcharged: £35,102.00
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £49,787.00

Green Star Energy:
Number of customers affected: 79,083
Total overcharged: £664,661.00
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £808,351.00

npower
Number of customers affected: 2,030
Total overcharged: £24,207.69
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £25,602.69

Octopus Energy:
Number of customers affected: 19,712
Total overcharged: £59,902.15
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £121,444.52

Orbit:
Number of customers affected: 723
Total overcharged: £5,539.25
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £7,081.12

OVO Energy:
Number of customers affected: 240,563
Total overcharged: £2,001,196.45
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £2,801,231.51

PFP Energy:
Number of customers affected: 5,347
Total overcharged: £35,204.31
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £50,929.31

Scottish Power:
Number of customers affected: 157,236
Total overcharged: £1,449,835.28
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £1,967,465.28

Shell:
Number of customers affected: 225,823
Total overcharged: £1,001,203.40
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £1,217,203.40

So Energy:
Number of customers affected: 10,514
Total overcharged: £59,723.56
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £78,480.89

SSE:
Number of customers affected: 132,620
Total overcharged: £713,973.86
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £983,334.45

Utility Warehouse:
Number of customers affected: 2,732
Total overcharged: £62,783.92
Total paid for overcharging, plus compensation and redress payments: £95,512.15

Other suppliers that broke the rules are Octopus, OVO Energy and Shell.

You can see a full list of who broke the rules and how many customers are affected in the box above.

The amount you could be due back depends on your energy supplier.

For example, British Gas was found to have overcharged 141,415 people £391,176.79 collectively.

If refunds were divided equally, this would amount to around £2.76 each – but it isn’t likely to work out like this.

Suppliers are likely to issue refunds depending on the severity of the problem and how much you usually pay for your energy.

Customers who are due a refund include those on a standard variable tariff who switched to another supplier but did not have their variable tariff price protected during the switch.

Other households affected are those on a fixed-term tariff who switched to another supplier, or moved to another tariff with their current supplier, but did not have their fixed term tariff protected during the switch.

How to save on your energy bills

SWITCHING energy providers can sound like a hassle – but fortunately it’s pretty straight forward to change supplier – and save lots of cash.

Shop around – If you’re on an SVT deal you are likely throwing away more than £300 a year. Use a comparion site such as MoneySuperMarket.com, uSwitch or EnergyHelpline.com to see what deals are available to you.

The cheapest deals are usually found online and are fixed deals – meaning you’ll pay a fixed amount usually for 12 months.

Switch – When you’ve found one, all you have to do is contact the new supplier.

It helps to have the following information – which you can find on your bill – to hand to give the new supplier.

Your postcode
Name of your existing supplier
Name of your existing deal and how much you pay
An up-to-date meter reading

It will then notify your current supplier and begin the switch.

It should take no longer than three weeks to complete the switch and your supply won’t be interrupted in that time.

Several of the suppliers who broke the rules self-reported the issue to Ofgem.

All the energy firms were then requested to self-assess their practices and report back to the regulator.

Ofgem said most of the failures were down to suppliers not having adequate arrangements in place to make sure prices were protected when customers decided to switch.

Anna Rossington, interim director of retail at Ofgem, said: “Customers should have confidence in switching and not be overcharged when doing so.

“This case sends a strong message to all suppliers that Ofgem will intervene where customers are overcharged and ensure that no supplier benefits from non-compliance.

“It also shows that, where appropriate, Ofgem is prepared to work with suppliers who have failed to comply with the rules, but who are willing to self-report issues and put things right for their customers.”