How we’re working to protect consumers as suppliers fail and prices rise

The news has been dominated by energy suppliers going bust over the past 4 weeks, with more expected to come. 1.7 million people so far have seen their supplier fail in the last 6 weeks alone.

We know this can be a worrying time for many, and as the statutory advocate for energy we’ve been busy making sure that customers are protected. People have been coming to us for advice in record levels — our advice pages on supplier failures saw a 9000% increase in visits, and our dedicated consumer service helpline had almost 50% increase in calls from the first week in September.

So, what have we been doing?

At Citizens Advice, responding to supplier failures is nothing new. Since 2016 there have been 30 energy supplier failures, and we’ve worked behind the scenes, using our expertise and insights, to make sure customers are protected. However, with record numbers of customers being affected in a short period this Autumn, we’ve been busier than ever before.

1. Providing people with up to date advice and reassurance

Over the past week, you’ll have seen many members of our team on the TV and radio, and in the newspapers. We’ve been working tirelessly to reassure customers during these uncertain times via our advice services and our press work.

The Citizens Advice consumer service — a free advice helpline for people having consumer problems — is a vital part of our work as the consumer advocate for energy. Our helpline has seen a 50% increase in calls in the past two weeks, with customers concerned about what an energy supplier failure means for them. If you’re in need of specialist support, you’ll be referred to the Extra Help Unit. Our local Citizens Advice offices also provide face-to-face energy advice to people.

We also provide advice on our website on our webpages ‘your energy supplier has gone bust’ and ‘check who’s taken over your energy supply’. With the increased attention on energy supplier failures over the past few weeks our pages have seen a 9000% increase in visits from people looking for advice on what to do when their energy supplier fails.

2. Information gathering and briefing

To make sure that the consumer service can best support customers at this time, our energy policy team has been gathering up to date information and briefing the consumer service in real time. We work closely with Ofgem, the Extra Help Unit, and both the failed company and the new company so we’re able to arm our consumer service and local Citizens Advice offices with accurate information to be able to answer customers questions. This includes information on how to contact the new supplier, what the new tariff is and how prepayment customers can top-up with their new supplier.

3. Monitoring and sharing insights

Our work providing advice and support means we can monitor issues people are having in the supplier failure process in real-time. We look out for problems that can arise during a failure, particularly around customers in vulnerable circumstances, and customers in debt who may not be able to keep their existing repayment plans. We relay this insight to Ofgem, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the suppliers involved. In the short term to resolve issues promptly and in the medium term to help make sure more people aren’t affected in case further suppliers fail. One way we’ve done this is by creating good practice guides for the industry to improve the process for future supplier failures.

4. Campaigning for consumer protections

At this time of uncertainty, we’re concerned that there are areas where customers lack protection. These include:

• The Warm Home Discount- £140 available for more than 2.2 million energy customers, including pensioners, disabled customers, and those who are struggling financially — is not guaranteed to be honoured by the new energy supplier.
• Customers who are in debt to their energy supplier who goes bust, are often unable to continue on their existing repayment plans.

Warm Home Discount and debt repayment plans are important protections for some of the customers most vulnerable to the energy crisis. We are calling on Ofgem to make sure Warm Home Discount payments are honoured and repayment plans are available to customers going through a supplier failure. For more information check out our recent blog ‘Protecting people during energy market turbulence’.

With more supplier failures expected to come in the next few weeks, we’re only going to get busier. Our number one priority is to continue to support people through the process and we’ll share our insights and expertise with stakeholders to make sure customers are protected in these uncertain times.