Energy companies owe £153m to customers
10/09/2014
The “big six” energy suppliers have been ordered to refund 3 million households an average of £50 each.
It has emerged that energy firms such as Npower, British Gas and EDF have accumulated around £153m in overpayments over the last six years, which are yet to be reclaimed by customers.
The overpayments are usually from when a customer switched suppliers or moved home and failed to pass on a forwarding address. However, Ofgem, who are the regulator for the energy industry has ordered the “big six” suppliers to run a campaign, encouraging customers to reclaim their money.
Ofgem have also warned that they will clamp down further on energy suppliers, unless satisfactory progress is made in the near future.
Customers urged to make a claim
Angela Knight, chief executive of Energy UK has said that they are “urging former customers to come forward and make a claim” for any money they may be owed.
Anybody who wishes to make a claim can do so by visiting www.myenergycredit.com and following the instructions on the website.
It was announced that if a person leaves their money unclaimed for two years, then the funds will be earmarked to help vulnerable customers such as the elderly. However, any claims will still be valid after this two year period, and there is no limit on how long you have to claim your money back.
The energy firms were also given a warning that they need to make future progress to ensure that such a build up of refunds does not happen again.
Dermot Nolan, the chief executive of Ofgem said: "Suppliers must now do everything within their powers to return the money and prevent a similar situation from happening again".
He continued to say that a failure to deliver on the initiatives could result in further action by Ofgem, which could even include enforcement.
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