Four energy suppliers have paid more than £171,000 in redress after they failed to offer certain types of tariffs to customers with restricted meters.
Around 4 million customers in Great Britain have a restricted, or ‘profile class two’ (PC2), meter. They allow consumers to be charged for electricity at different rates, depending on the time of day they use their energy.
Standard licence condition 22G (SLC 22G) requires suppliers with more than 50,000 customers to offer those on restricted meters single-rate tariffs upon request without charging multiple standing charges if a consumer has multiple meters.
Ofgem expects all relevant suppliers to:
- Signpost restricted meter customers to all relevant tariffs
- Ensure restricted meter customers’ requests for a single rate tariff are carried out
- Ensure restricted meter customers on single rate tariffs are treated the same as all other single rate customers
After reviewing supplier compliance with SLC 22G Ofgem found that between 2017 and 2020 So, EDF, Igloo and Ovo Energy had been charging customers multiple standing charges, impacting 1,665 consumers in total.
All four refunded customers and took remedial action, including compensating customers and have provided assurances that this will not reoccur. The total redress comprises:
- Direct customer refunds totalling £126,947.25
- Customer goodwill payments totalling £44,298.16
Of those found to have been in breach So was the worst with almost 800 customers impacted. It paid well over £60,000 as a result. Only 35 of Ovo’s customers were affected and the large supplier paid out just over £7,000.
| Supplier | No. of customers | Total refunds | Total goodwill |
| So Energy | 779 | £44,993.34 | £15,590.00 |
| EDF Energy | 487 | £52,987.87 | £18,851.00 |
| Igloo Energy | 364 | £22,641.00 | £8,880.00 |
| Ovo Energy | 35 | £6,325.04 | £977.16 |
Responding to the findings by Ofgem, an EDF spokesperson told Utility Week those affected represent around 1 per cent of its total number of customers with a restricted meter.
They added: “We’re sorry this error happened and to put things right, we’ve written to all 487 customers impacted offering them a full refund as well as a goodwill gesture; the issue with our system has also been fixed to ensure this won’t happen again.”
A representative of So Energy said: “We work hard to ensure that we are offering the best service that we can. This time we didn’t get it quite right and we apologise to the customers who were temporarily out of pocket. Refunds are being issued and our team are working hard to ensure that our processes are strengthened for future.”
An Ovo spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to have fallen short of our regulatory responsibilities. We are apologising to and refunding all affected members.
“Ofgem has recognised the steps we are taking to put things right and ensure that we are compliant going forward.”
Meanwhile an Igloo Energy spokesperson said: “Ofgem approached us as part of a market-wide check on this issue. Having already completed an internal review, we were happy to volunteer a solution that Ofgem accepted in full.
“As an energy supplier who always puts the interests of our customers first, we remain completely committed to proactively reviewing and solving matters in an ever-changing regulatory environment.”