Centrica Fined over Poor Service

UK supplier Centrica's British Gas Business subsidiary is to pay a £9.5mn fine, after UK regulator Ofgem ruled January 24 that it let customers down when it implemented a new billing system in 2014.

Tens of thousands of its business customers were left with delayed and inaccurate bills; over 6,000 new customers experienced delays in registering. After initial problems emerged, Centrica compensated some customers, acted to reduce levels of delayed bills, and enabled some to switch to other suppliers. 

In its defence, Centrica said that BGB spent £40mn on the new billing system, which combined more than 100 old systems into one, but that problems now had been resolved. It issued an apology to its business customers.

Photo credit: Centrica

Ofgem CEO Dermot Nolan said that Centrica did the right thing by coming forward to Ofgem to report problems with its billing system: “Ofgem welcomes suppliers investing in new systems and recognises that this can be challenging; however the £9.5mn payment also sends a strong reminder to all energy companies that they must treat consumers fairly at all times, including while new systems are put in place.”

Three years ago Centrica agreed to pay a fine of £10.6mn after Ofgem ruled it had failed sufficiently to publicise energy-saving measures among its lower-income home energy customers between 2013 and 2015; the fine was paid into a trust that distributes grants to organisations that help such customers.

Mark Smedley