Energy firm breaches new rules

It has been revealed that an energy firm has recently been found guilty of breaching new regulations with regards to consumer complaints. According to a recent report EDF Energy failed to record customer complaints properly in line with regulations. The breach is said to have occurred between October 2008 and March of last year.

The report claims that the problem has now been rectified and the energy supplier has had to pay £200,000 to charities that help consumers. As a result of the payment that the energy supplier has made the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has decided against imposing a separate fine against the energy firm.

The regulations that the company was found to have breached were introduced in 2008, and this is said to have been the first investigation since the rules were brought in. The energy firm is said to have taken immediate action to put the matter right. The rules had been brought it try and improve customer service levels from energy firms, which typically receive a huge number of complaints relating to customer service and billings.

The regulations aimed to ensure that consumer could contact the energy firm and have to explain the situation just once, and the complaint would be properly recorded so that the matter could be resolved or continue to be dealt with effectively. This also made it easier to monitor how long it took for the complaint to be resolved, helping to ensure that it was sorted out within the specified timescale.

EDF Energy said: “When Ofgem first identified in January 2009 that the number of complaints we had recorded was lower than expected, we immediately instigated a review and developed a robust action plan to resolve the matter. The actions we took led to an almost immediate and sustained improvement, such that our recorded complaints are now fully consistent with our expectations and with other suppliers.”       

Tags: energy firms, Complaint, line, energy, energy supplier, customer, Electric power, EDF Energy