Subscribe to this blog's feedA colleague attended last night's launch of the report into the first year of the Energy Supply Ombudsman at the impressive Portcullis House opposite the Houses of Parliament. Although enquiries to the energy onbudsman are running ahead of those directed to the equivalent telecoms scheme at the same stage of its development, energy retailers were rightly pleased that only 630 formal complaints had been received by the ombudsman in the first year.
This figure it turns out would have been a lot smaller if it hadn't been for the well publicised teething problems British Gas had last year with its new billing system. Scottish and Southern Energy chief Ian Marchant said his company accounted for just 1 or 2 per cent of the complaints reaching the ombudsman, and other retailers - apart from British Gas - probably account for a similar percentage. Marchant caused consternation however by suggesting that the 12 week period retailers are currently given to sort out customer complaints before the ombudsman steps in should be cut to just four weeks - not a long time really to allow what might be quite complex issues to be resolved.
He also pointed out that smart meters would all but do away with complaints about billing, which last year accounted for 90 per cent of disputes looked at by the ombudsman. But will the retailers find a way of funding a national rollout of smart meters any time soon? The great man (Disconnector, not Marchant) waits with bated breath...
