Nearly £1.2 million unclaimed in utilities compensation
Did you know that consumers are failing to claim nearly £1.2m per week from their energy and water suppliers?
According to recent research 69% of people are unaware that they can claim compensation from their gas, electric and water suppliers when they receive shoddy service. And 12% of respondents said they would have made a claim last year if they had known their rights and the process for complaining to obtain the compensation to which they were entitled - which equates to more than £60m a year going begging in unclaimed compensation.
As a consequence, our usability companies get away with providing us with unsatisfactory service and we lose as consumers missing out on this hidden windfall. All because we don't know our rights as consumers.
So what are our rights as a gas, electric or water customer?
Utilities companies are all required to meet standards of service set by the regulators and failure to meet these standards means that you can be eligible for compensation from your supplier. And these standards of service are pretty basic and should not be too difficult to meet, but it seems that they are not and so we might all be missing out on pain free and tax free compensation.
Compensation will be triggered if any of the following examples of poor customer service or events apply:
• If your energy or water supplier fails to turn up during a scheduled two hour appointment slot.
• If your water supplier fails to give you 48 hours written notice before cutting off your water supply for more than 4 hours.
• If your energy supplier fails to give you 48 hours notice before cutting off your gas or electricity.
• If your water supplier doesn't tell you if an appointment is in the morning or afternoon.
• If your water supplier does not provide a substantive reply in response to a written query on the correctness or accuracy of a bill.
Should any of these instances of poor service apply, you are entitled to claim compensation of £20 per event. It might not be much, but it all mounts up, and if the estimates are correct will mean utilities companies paying out over £60m per annum to disgruntled customers.
One way to make companies pay proper heed to customers is to make bad customer service cost. And with only 2% of those surveyed claiming compensation, it is clear we all have a long way to go to help our utility suppliers understand the cost of poor service and the extent to which we, as consumers, are annoyed by the levels of service on offer.
And there really is no excuse. Granted, our utility suppliers could make more effort to publicise these compensation triggers and could make it easier for us to obtain what we are entitled to when service standards are not met, but the contract you have with your energy or water supplier will include the standards of service promised to you. Where these standards of service are part of the contract, your supplier is legally obliged to meet them. In addition, all utility companies must follow a guaranteed standard of service set by the regulator, which stipulates as above the minimum level of service that must be offered and the level of compensation triggered when these standards are not met.
To complain and to obtain the compensation on offer should be simple and straightforward if you follow these easy steps:
Step #1 Contact your supplier, preferably in writing. All utility suppliers have to comply with stringent complaint handling procedures laid down by the regulator, which stipulate how quickly all complaint letters must be dealt with. In most cases compensation will be paid at this stage.
Step #2 If unresolved, contact Consumer Direct, the Government's consumer helpline. It cannot take up the complaint on your behalf but will give sound, practical advice and direct you to other bodies who can help.
Step #3 If your complaint reaches deadlock and is not resolved within the time limit for resolution set by the regulator, contact the relevant Ombudsman. Details will be on your bill. This service is independent and free to use, with the power to force your supplier to take action to resolve the dispute and to help you obtain the compensation you are entitled to.
Step #4 Keep copies of all bills and correspondence.
It really is that simple to obtain your share of this £60m annual windfall.
And if all else fails, remember you can always change energy suppliers - though not your water supplier. Maybe that will make them sit up and take notice.