61,000 affected consumers

Blocked switching

Up to 3,800 customers on Restricted Meter Infrastructure (RMI) where there is more than one meter per property were blocked from switching to Bulb as it failed to submit the correct number of meters to their existing suppliers. As a result, the energy supplier paid out £155,000 to the consumers affected.

As well as being unable to switch to Bulb the RMI customers were also overcharged by £699,000 after being charged for multiple standing charges. Bulb has since paid out compensation to the tune of £675,000.

Put things right

“Bulb overcharged some customers and risked leaving vulnerable customers without access to essential network services when it failed to comply with Ofgem’s rules.

'Our rules are designed to protect consumers, and suppliers must make sure they have the processes in place to comply with them if they are going to give their customers good service. Bulb has since put things right with affected customers and put processes in place to make sure it can meet Ofgem’s rules,” said Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley.

Refunds and changes made

Since the discovery of the issues, Ofgem says that Bulb has since taken action to remedy them by introducing new processes and offering refunds that make up the bulk of the £1.76 million pay-out. Other actions have seen Bulb payout £157,350 to the energy industry voluntary redress fund that supports the most vulnerable energy customers. 

What can other energy suppliers learn from this?

Bulb’s prompt response to compensating the impacted customers and its quick compliancy with Ofgem will have helped to reduce potential damage to its reputation.

Bulb self-reported the PSR issues back in February and has paid £70,000 to the 933 customers who were removed from the register and suffered a power outage. The company also posted an apology on its website.

“We pride ourselves on the quality of our systems and technology, but in these instances, we needed to improve. To do so, we’ve strengthened the relevant teams, introduced new processes and training and introduced more checking and verification.”

It added: “We’re sorry. We will do better.”

When it comes to attracting new customers reputation is everything and this will go a long way to showing that when things do go wrong the company are quick to own up to it and implement measures that will help ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Using software such as Dyball’s Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) can help reduce the chances of accidentally overcharging customers and allows an energy supplier to add customers quickly and easily to the PSR. For more information contact us. 

Price Cap to be cut to its lowest ever level

Ofgem has announced that the energy price cap is to be cut to its lowest level ever in October as it states that customers need more support as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.



Energy bills are set to drop by £95 per year for over 15 million households across the UK with the price cap falling from the previous £1,126 to £1,042.



Prepayment meter customers will also see a fall in their energy bills with the cap falling to £1,070 from the current £1,164.

Short term cut?

During the Covid-19 imposed lockdown, wholesale energy prices fell dramatically to record lows. Now, however, as the global economy continues to reopen and get back online those prices have been rising steadily.

If wholesale energy prices continue to rise, Ofgem said that the price cap could be increased next April to reflect the price increases.

“Millions of households, many of whom face financial hardship due to the Covid-19 crisis, will see big savings on their energy bills this winter when the level of the cap is reduced. They can also reduce their energy bills further by shopping around for a better deal. Ofgem will continue to protect consumers in the difficult months ahead as we work with industry and government to build a greener, fairer energy market,” said Ofgem’s CEO. 

Further Reading

How a CRM makes Energy Billing easy for Energy Suppliers

Ofgem to introduce new standards for smaller energy suppliers this winter

How does the UK Energy Market work Part 1 – Energy Prices and entering the energy market

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