Energy supplier E.on Next pays out £14.5m for 'unacceptable' billing failures impacting 250,000 customers

Ofgem ruled that the energy supplier let down customers between February 2021 and September 2023 by failing to send final bill within six week to those who transferred to another supplier or ended their contract. As a result, many customers faced financial difficulty at the time, with the cost of energy bills high.

E.on Next, which self-reported the error, failed to provide compensation of £30 or £60 to those impacted, while 100,000 customer did not receive notice that they still had remaining credit in their account.

The average amount left in account were £51. Customers impacted are set to receive £144 on average from the pay out. The company has also agreed to write off the debt of 150,000 customers who closed their contracts during the time period of the billing errors.

Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, said: “Pre-payment meter customers are more likely to face financial difficulties, and during a period where households have been facing a significant cost-of-living crisis, it’s unacceptable that consumers did not receive refunds for credit that was owed to them, or final bills they are entitled to.”

She added: “Eon Next has demonstrated an understanding of the significant impact this issue may have had on its customers and it’s encouraging that they self-reported the issue and have worked with us to resolve it, and compensate affected customers to put things right. The action to write off debt will also offer affected households peace of mind.”

For customers who E.on can no longer contact, the energy company will pay into the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund, which helps to fund projects to support vulnerable customers.

Who is E.on UK CEO?

Chris Norbury is currently the Chief Executive Officer of E.on UK. He took up the role of CEO in June 2023, following the departure of Michael Lewis to Uniper in Germany. Prior to this, Norbury was the Chief people Officer at the energy company.

In September last year, Norbury was one of the prominent voices in the energy sector to speak out against former Tory leader Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap Net Zero pledges. He labelled the move a “misstep on many levels”.