Ombudsman gives suppliers more complaint handling time

Energy suppliers will have an additional month to submit evidence during the Ombudsman complaints process as coronavirus continues to take hold.

In a letter seen by Utility Week Matthew Vickers, chief executive at the Energy Ombudsman, wrote to suppliers outlining the service’s intention to prioritise the way it handles complaints during the pandemic from today (6 April).

Complainants and suppliers currently have 10 working days to add evidence, plus a further one or two days to check it and then four calendar days in which to comment on evidence submitted by the other side in the dispute. New measures include extending the period suppliers and customers have to submit their evidence by 28 days.

Vickers said Ombudsman Services is currently operating at reduced capacity, but that it remains in a “good place operationally” and that it was continuing to operate as normal but he added it was becoming “increasingly apparent” that that is not a sustainable position for many of the companies it works with.

“Some have severe operational impairments, and all are – quite rightly – prioritising their available resources on the customers who need them the most. We believe the right thing to do is to recognise and adapt to this prioritisation, so that the service we provide is also appropriately focused”, Vickers said.

He added that the service intended to continue to protect customers and prioritise those in the most vulnerable situations, while enabling suppliers to “redeploy and maximise resources at the front line where necessary”.

To that end Ombudsman Services says it will stagger its new approach to become fully operational over the next few weeks.

As well as explaining to customers it is likely their case will take longer than normal during the crisis, the service will increase the time customers and suppliers are given to provide evidence by 28 days.

Furthermore it will prioritise all active complaints according to the specific needs of each customer.

Cases such as an immediate threat of loss of supply or customers about to be involved in debt collection procedures will be brought forward.

In addition, from 20 April all new cases will face prioritisation and will go through a “more intensive manual triage”. From that point, suppliers will only be required to work with the service on the most urgent cases.

“We would expect you to follow usual process in order to ensure that these cases are given due attention, given their priority nature,” Vickers added.

Going forward, any accepted cases that are deemed not to be an immediate priority will be held by the service until normal investigations can resume.

Simon Palmer, managing director at the Energy Ombudsman, stressed protection “remains firmly in place at a time when consumers and microbusinesses are relying on it more than ever”.

Ombudsman Services will issue more detailed guidance later today.

Emergency measures were agreed between the government and energy suppliers in March, to protect the most vulnerable customers.

These included the suspension of disconnection of credit meters. More than 4 million customers with prepayment meters who may not be able to add credit can now speak to their retailer about options to keep them supplied.