Npower to provide free energy after customer complaint failure

Npower will provide 1,000 of its customers with free energy after failing to resolve energy ombudsman complaints in the required 28 day period, and the supplier will also clear outstanding debt on the affected accounts.

The measure, secured by the regulator Ofgem and in agreement with the ombudsman, will be in place from today until the ombudsman’s rulings have been applied in full.

Ofgem’s senior partner Anthony Pygram said: “We expect Npower to implement ombudsman decisions on time. Our intervention has only been necessary because of Npower’s failure to do this.”

“This has led to further frustration for affected customers who have already been waiting some time to have their issue resolved. We are continuing our investigation into Npower’s customer service issues and expect significant improvements from the company to address these.”

A spokesperson for Npower said: “Npower continues to make steps to improve its service, including halving overall complaints and reducing ombudsman complaints by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of this year, but sometimes a delay in finally resolving a complaint can occur, for which we apologise.”

Npower said any customer with a complaint not resolved in the timeframe after today’s announcement will be reviewed on a case by case basis, but it will provide free energy “where the remedy has not been completed due to our process or system.”

Last month ombudsman services reported a record-breaking year for energy complaints after the number more than doubled during 2014-15 on the previous year.