E.ON to compensate 100,000 customers for billing error

Energy supplier E.ON has announced it will pay £14.5m to nearly 100,000 customers with pre-payment metres.

This follows a billing error that affected vulnerable customers who ended their contracts within a mandatory six-week window. Anyone who has been affected will receive an average  £144, the energy regulator Ofgem has confirmed.

The billing blunder

Between February 2021 and September 2023, E.ON failed to apply a credit to the accounts of many customers who had cancelled their contracts.

These customers didn’t know they were owed money when they ended their agreements. There was:

• £4.7m in total credit owed
• £6.6m in compensation mandated by Ofgem
• £3.2m voluntarily agreed by E.ON to further help customers

Ofgem has called this error "unacceptable", highlighting the impact it’s likely to have had on customers struggling with money.

E.ON has said it is "deeply sorry" and has reached out to the affected customers. The supplier said it has  changed its processes to prevent errors like these from happening again.

Debt write-offs

As well as the compensation package, E.ON has agreed to write off debts of nearly 150,000 pre-payment customers who cancelled their accounts during the same period.

The energy company will also contribute to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme, which supports vulnerable energy customers.

A wider sector issue

E.ON is not the only supplier who’s been criticised for treating pre-payment metre users poorly. Other suppliers, including British Gas, have come under fire for similar issues, like force-fitting pre-payment devices and mishandling billing disputes.

British Gas has acknowledged past mistakes, saying that customers wrongly charged will not be held responsible for incorrect bills.