Spark Energy to pay £250k to Citizens Advice
Press release
Publication date
- Ofgem found that Spark Energy failed to treat its customers properly while establishing itself in the marketplace
- £250k will go to help Citizens Advice
- Spark has improved its procedures
Spark Energy is to pay £250k to Citizens Advice to provide help to energy consumers (split equally between Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice in England and Wales) after Ofgem’s investigation found it breached switching rules and complaints handling regulations. Spark wrongly stopped customers switching to other suppliers, transferred customers when it should not have, and fell short of billing and complaints handling standards. The failings largely occurred between June 2010 and October 2013.
Ofgem opened the investigation in June 2013. It was concerned about the high number of complaints concerning Spark that it received from several sources. This included a reference in May 2013 from Consumer Focus. There were complaints about customer transfers, billing and refunds. Ofgem was also concerned that Spark was not handling complaints according to the regulations.
Spark was found to have blocked customers from switching to other suppliers, and transferred certain customers to other suppliers without their express consent, to stop them building up more debt with Spark. In addition, the supplier did not bill customers correctly, nor return refunds promptly.
Sarah Harrison, senior partner in charge of enforcement at Ofgem, said: “The fact that Spark’s problems occurred when it was establishing itself in the market is no excuse for not complying with its obligations. Following our intervention, Spark has made significant progress and has put in place new processes to resolve its issues. The £250,000 reflects the seriousness of the breaches but also Spark’s size, and that during the investigation it has worked hard to resolve the issues identified.”
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Notes to editors
1. View details of the investigation into Spark Energy's compliance
For further press information contact:
Dafydd Wyn 020 3263 9943
Out of hours media contact number 07766 511470