Economy Energy provisional order “welcome and necessary”, says Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice, in its role as the official consumer champion for energy, has responded to Ofgem’s announcement of a provisional order against Economy Energy.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Today’s action by Ofgem is a welcome and necessary step towards fixing the consistently poor service experienced by Economy Energy customers.

“We’ve raised a number of concerns in recent months about Economy Energy to the regulator. These include failing to refund customer credit balances and not properly billing people switching to a different supplier.

“But there’s a wider problem behind this news. Ofgem’s upcoming licensing review offers a major opportunity to stop underprepared firms entering the market. Further action is needed now to address the ongoing issues caused by poorly performing companies already operating.”

Notes to editors

  1. Citizens Advice includes the national charity; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

  2. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and post. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.

  3. The Citizens Advice Witness Service provides free, independent support for prosecution and defence witnesses in every criminal court in England and Wales.

  4. Citizens Advice offers Pension Wise services at 500 locations in England and Wales.

  5. Citizens Advice’s services are free, independent, confidential and impartial, and available to all regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

  6. To get advice online or find your local Citizens Advice, visit citizensadvice.org.uk

  7. For consumer advice, call the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 to talk in Welsh.

  8. We helped 2.6 million people face to face, by phone, email and webchat in 2017-18. For service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

  9. Citizens Advice staff are supported by over 23,000 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 locations in England and Wales.