Blog Post

As UK Lockdown is extended, Ofgem reminds Energy Suppliers of their obligations

Matt Olney • Apr 17, 2020

Ofgem has written to energy suppliers to remind them of their obligations during the Coronavirus pandemic following the government’s decision to extend the nationwide lockdown for another three weeks.

Customers are the priority

The energy regulator has advised suppliers that they must continue to focus on treating their customers as fairly as possible during the lockdown.

It advises that they should do their utmost to ensure that their Priority Service Registers and kept up to date.

As well as aiding those on the PSR, Ofgem also says that suppliers should do more to assist and support customers that may be experiencing financial difficulty because of the pandemic.

Sticking to requirements

Ofgem also says that suppliers should continue to provide essential and emergency visits to properties and stated that all supplier must continue to meet regulatory requirements where possible.

This includes sticking to the new switching standards that are set to come into effect on May 1st.

Under the new standards, customers will be paid £30 automatically by their new energy supplier if either of these happens:

• If an energy switch takes more than 15 working days

• If they are switched by mistake

Also, their outgoing energy supplier must pay £30 if a customer's final bill is not issued within six weeks of an energy switch.

Read more.

Protecting the most vulnerable

Energy suppliers should be taking a proactive approach to identify and support their most vulnerable customers.

They should identify who is most at risk of losing their energy supply due to faults or because of faulty equipment.

Vulnerable customers should also be treated fairly with suppliers advised to suspend the disconnection of credit meters until the crisis abates.

How a company behaves during the crisis will have lasting consequences for its prospects once the lockdown is lifted. Reputational damage is a high risk if a supplier fails to support its customers.

Ofgem also said that it expects suppliers to continue to carry out home visits in the event of an emergency to ensure supplies are maintained. It advises suppliers to enforce government guidelines on social distancing where able.

Tasks such as taking meter readings and non-essential smart meter installations, however, are likely to be deprioritised.

Also read: Add your Customers to the Priority Service Register with Dyball’s CRM

Smart meter confusion

Surprisingly in Ofgem’s latest guidance, it states that; ‘Suppliers are obligated by Government to ‘take all reasonable steps’ to deliver the smart meter rollout by the end of 2020.’

Many will be scratching their heads at how they’re supposed to achieve this when most suppliers have cancelled their installation programmes to both protect their staff and customers.

With the lockdown extended by another 3 weeks and with installations halted until it is lifted achieving the 2020 deadline is looking more and more unlikely.

Read more

Dealing with Payment issues

The Ofgem letter suggests that energy suppliers highlight on their website and material the financial support that is being offered by the government during the crisis.

With many people facing financial insecurity energy suppliers have reported a rise in the number of consumers cancelling their direct debit payments.

The letter also suggests that companies should not disconnect customers from their energy supply because of debt issues.

Stay contactable

Many energy suppliers are feeling the pinch when it comes to their staffing levels during the pandemic.

Despite this, the companies need to maintain their channels of communication such as having active social media, staffed phone lines and active email addresses.

Urgent cases involving the most vulnerable should always be dealt with first, other complaints can wait.

Ofgem also announced that deadlines for companies to submit several regulatory reports such as their quarterly complaints figures for Q1 2020 have been pushed back to end of July.

Ofgem is watching

The letter makes it clear that the regulator will continue to closely monitor energy suppliers, and whilst it will provide some leniency due to the current circumstances, it advises that all suppliers remain transparent.

It concludes by saying that it will not act against suppliers who are open and transparent in their decisions to support their customers and that the needs of their customers come first.

Also read: Ofgem to introduce new rules to help customers struggling with energy bills- what does this mean for energy suppliers?