Energy firm switches customers to higher priced tariffs

German owned energy firm NPower has shifted tens of thousands of its customers onto higher priced tariffs in a bid to retaliate at the energy regulator Ofgem. The move comes after Ofgem said that companies must only offer deals to customers that reflect the actual cost of providing the power.

The requirement was made by the regulator in a bid to reduce the cost of energy for many customers. However, Npower has been described as acting ‘petulantly’ by stating that it works both ways and subsequently moving thousands of its customers onto deals that could see them paying up to 25 percent more for their energy.

The supplier, which has over six million customers, said that the changes that Ofgem has made to its licensing requirements has forced it to cancel the deals that have seen customers moved over to more costly tariffs. Whilst some of the customers that have been switched had come to the end of their special deals, others had taken deals that had no expiry date attached and have simply found themselves simply shunted onto poor value deals.

An official from a popular comparison site said that Npower had turned the tables on the regulator but offering its consumers poor deals as a result of the changes when the regulator had been aiming for consumers to get better results because of the changes that it has put into place.

He said: “This is a petulant move from Npower which demonstrates its disregard for customers who signed up to cheaper online tariffs. Ofgem’s guidelines were designed to encourage energy providers to offer all customers equally good deals, but Npower seems to have turned that on its head and decided to offer all customers equally bad ones.”

Tags: Npower, tariffs, energy providers, energy, ofgem

NPower named as Britain’s worst utility company

The German owned energy firm NPower has recently been named as the worst utility company in Britain, topping the tables as Britain’s worst supplier after the consumer campaign group Which? carried out a poll that involved surveying eight thousand respondents.

Owned by the German company RWE, Npower has around 6.5 million customers in the UK, but the majority of them are not happy customers according to the results of the Which? survey. Only 27 percent of customers with NPower said that they were satisfied with the service, leaving the vast majority of customers unhappy with the service.

Whilst Npower rated the worst in any Which? survey on history, the report also showed that the customer service levels amongst the big six energy suppliers was all inadequate. British Gas received a customer service satisfaction level of just 37 percent, and Eon received a slightly higher 39 percent. Scottish Power received 40 percent and Scottish & Southern Energy achieved a more respectable 50 percent satisfaction level.

Officials from Which? said that the results for all energy providers was poor and reflected a poor level of customers service, adding that customers should be happy with the service that they are receiving rather than just satisfied. He said that the results reflected the poor state of Britain when it came to the commitment of energy firms.

He stated: ‘Our latest survey adds to the dismal picture of Britain’s utilities in 2010.’

However, an Npower spokesman said that the company was committed to its customers and aimed to provide a service that would keep them happy.

He said: ‘Our aim is to see our customers happy, not just satisfied – and we’ve been working really hard to make customer service the focus of our company.’

Tags: energy, worst supplier, energy firms, energy providers, Npower

Homeowners ‘can’t afford to be passive’ about energy deal

As energy prices rise homeowners “can’t afford to be passive” about the tariffs they are charged by their electricity suppliers, according to an industry watchdog.

Energywatch said that despite the rising prices, consumers should certainly shop around for the best tariffs, particularly those who are still with their existing provider as new customers receive more competitive deals.

Georgina Walsh, spokesperson for energywatch, said: “It’s well worth switching because you can probably save at least £100, even if you change to another supplier on the same tariff.”

If increasing numbers of consumers switched it would encourage providers to become more competitive, she added.

With combined household bills for electricity and gas reaching an estimated £1,000 per year, Ms Walsh called for more consumers to be more proactive.

Last week E.ON became the fifth of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers to raise its prices in response to reported price rises on wholesale gas and electricity.

Npower, British Gas, EDF Energy and Scottish Power have all raised their prices by over ten per cent this year.

Tags: power, Ms Walsh, energywatch, gas, consumers