‘Serious concerns’ raised over Ovo’s complaints handling

There are “serious concerns” regarding the way Ovo Energy handles consumer complaints and subsequent remedies, Ofgem has said.

The energy regulator has opened compliance engagement with the supplier in relation to how it resolves customer complaints via the Citizens Advice Extra Help Unit (EHU), as well as the implementation of Energy Ombudsman (EO) remedies.

Both organisations have recently raised concerns with Ofgem regarding Ovo.

In relation to EO remedies, Ofgem said it understands that, despite engagement by the dispute resolution service, “this situation became progressively worse over time”.

Meanwhile according to Ofgem the EHU, which is managed by Citizens Advice Scotland and helps vulnerable consumers across Britain, said that “Ovo accounted for a significant volume of its open cases and is an outlier for aged cases”.

Despite “ongoing discussions” between the charity and the energy retailer regarding its complaint management performance, Ovo appears “to have struggled to effectively organise and manage the complaints”.

The regulator added: “Ofgem takes customer service and complaints handling very seriously and is disappointed with the lack of progress made by Ovo towards resolving these issues.

“Consequently, we have intervened, working closely with Ovo to assess any detriment that there may be to customers and have set clear expectations and improvement targets. We have requested detailed reporting on a range of complaint metrics and set Ovo the objective of addressing all outstanding complaints, implementing all outstanding EO decisions, while reducing complaint resolution times and the volume of referrals made to the EHU and EO.

“Ovo has assured us that they take complaints resolution seriously and is working to improve its complaint and referral processes.”

Ofgem said that it is confident that its intervention has resulted in Ovo placing more focus on improvement of the complaints resolution process. It warned however that the supplier could face enforcement action if it does not make improvements.

The regulator stressed that the opening of the case does not imply it has made any findings about non-compliance by Ovo.

An Ovo spokesperson meanwhile said: “Ofgem did not identify any non-compliance from Ovo on this matter. We continue to place serious emphasis on the support we provide to our customers and have assured Ofgem of this.”