Flint: Energy bosses ‘lack curiosity’ about consumers

The chair of the Committee on Fuel Poverty has slammed energy retail bosses for lacking “curiosity” about their customers.

Former Labour minister Caroline Flint made the comments during her opening speech at Utility Week’s Consumer Vulnerability and Debt conference in Birmingham earlier this week.

She said that blanket support introduced by the government last winter meant that the “most marginalised households on antiquated prepayment meters often […] got their payments late and some lost out”.

Flint added that this, combined with the forced prepayment meter scandal, “exposed” some retailers for failing to know their customers.

“Among some retailers, it exposed that corporate leadership, responsibility and curiosity for what happens at the interface with customers, supplier or contractor, is still lacking,” the former MP said.

“The forced installation of prepayment meters doesn’t normally generate many headlines or debate but this time, not only the morality of seeking authority to do this in a crisis, but the behaviour of contractors and the weakness of guidelines and policy principles were still found wanting.”

Flint said that there is little evidence to see where retailers have improved in this area since the start of the crisis, citing a select committee hearing where retail bosses were grilled by MPs earlier this year.

She continued: “In evidence to the House of Commons energy security and net zero select committee in September, energy retail chiefs talked about being overwhelmed with calls from anxious customers and that staffing numbers couldn’t cope.

“However, looking ahead, it was unclear from what they said how much staff would be increased, whether specialised training, weekend access or direct access for advice agencies would be provided, let alone looking at their digital systems.”

She also spoke about the fact energy generators of all types gained the “unexpected fruits” of a profit windfall thanks to the crisis, despite not working “harder, smarter, or making efficiencies”.

Also speaking during the session was Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive of Energy UK, who said Flint’s point on curiosity was “really well made”.

Vyas spoke about Energy UK’s vulnerability commitment, which requires participating suppliers to have a board level champion on vulnerability.

She said: “The vulnerability commitment goes beyond the licence, it’s about where’s the best practice. We have a lot of push and pull on how do we compare the suppliers when really what we want them to do is innovate and do things in their way.

“There’s merit in both, but the regulator does a lot of comparing across the market. What we want is to really understand the best practice, the progress, the different, innovate new ways of doing things, particularly when it comes to supporting people in vulnerable circumstances.”

Another topic discussed during the session was around data and how suppliers can utilise more data sources to better support their customers.

Utility Week recently spoke to Centrica’s former credit and risk manager Ian Parry who said that suppliers must be smarter by using third party data sources to check a consumer’s vulnerability before applying for a prepayment meter warrant.

Flint was asked whether she was in support of retailers having access to more up to date and better data sources so they can more easily identify consumers who are struggling. In response, she questioned whether suppliers were using their existing data sources effectively enough.

She added: “Before I say ‘yes, we can give you more’, I would really want to know that they are using the data they have got smartly.”