Npower to halt telesales unless billing issues resolved
Press release
- Publication date
We’ve secured commitments from npower to take immediate action to put right its billing and complaints issues or face curbs on its sales, alongside launching a wider investigation into its customer service failings under our new standards of conduct.
We’re requiring npower to resolve its major billing issues no later than the end of August 2014 and publish monthly progress updates on its website.
Failure to meet these monthly targets will result in npower halting all proactive telesales to new customers until the targets are met.
Our investigation into the energy firm’s customer service failings is the first we've opened under our new Standards of Conduct (SOC). They could face a financial penalty or redress payment if they are found to have broken the rules.
This latest action follows our intervention in December 2013 which led to an apology by npower’s chief executive, Paul Massara, to all its customers, payment of £1m to good causes, and a commitment that no customer would be left out of pocket as a result of billing failures.
The SoC are part of our reforms for a simpler, clearer and fairer energy market. The SoC state that suppliers must treat consumers fairly. They are wide-ranging and cover supplier behaviour, the information that they provide to consumers, and their internal processes.
Our investigation will also look into npower’s compliance with industry complaint handling standards.
Find out more in our press release: Npower to halt telesales unless it resolves billing issues.