A pre-payment energy provider has been given a £560,000 penalty from regulator Ofgem after it wrongly prevented it's customers from switching to other suppliers. Utilita were established in 2003 and have been suppling customers with pre-payed gas and electricity since.
Ofgem found that the company had blocked as many as 4,000 of it's customers from switching supplier when they requested. Included in the fine, £110,000 worth of refunds will be issued to the customers affected, reimbursing those who lost out financially as a direct result of not being given permission to switch their supplier.
Describing their behaviour as 'unacceptable' Ofgem stated that the ability to allow customers to switch their supplier was one of the fundamental requirements in order to maintain a well-functioning energy market. Ofgem goes on to state that their fine takes into account that Utilita co-operated well during the investigation and complied with all information requests.
Upon entering the investigation, it was found that customers had been blocked from executing their switches in various ways between June 2010 and May 2015, for example, those who were operating within a fixed-term contract were finding themselves being automatically blocked.
Not only were customers banned from switching in the first place, but the provider failed to give any notice as to why the switch had been denied, nor to describe what action could be taken in order to resolve the situation.
A spokeswoman from Utilita has come forward to issue an apology on behalf of the company, as well as paying the rest of the penalty debt to the charity StepChange - a charity who specialise in debt guidance, solutions, and support.
"We would like to apologise unreservedly to those customers whom we wrongly prevented from switching supplier," while only 10% of their customers were affected they went on to state that "our customers are vitally important to us and we have taken quick and decisive action and improve our switching procedures."
The Energy Advice Line recommends that when you are considering switching your energy provider, you should always seek the advice of a reputable company who will be able to guide you through the process, help you find the cheapest prices, and be there for you throughout the term of your contract should any issues arise.
For more information on switching your supplier visit energyadviceline.org.uk