Ombudsman Services Good for consumers – Good for business EHU Update January 2017 Sue Jackson – Stakeholder Manager Kevin Gleave - Energy Sector Expert

Updates Operational Statistics Citizens Advice / Extra Help Unit feedback General / Ombudsman Update Ombudsman Services : Case Studies

Average Volume Of Energy Cases Accepted Per Day

Average Volume Of Energy Cases Accepted Per Day

Average Volume Of Contacts Per Day

Large Supplier Forecast

Other Supplier trends

OS forecast variance

Extra Help Unit Referrals 2015-16

General Updates Operational Communication Ombudsman Complaint Types Evidence of signposting ‘Initial decision calls’ ceased Participating company meetings

Evidence of signposting OS are committed to improving our reporting and the insights that we provide to companies to improve the customer journey and minimise consumer detriment. From Monday 9 January 2017 we will record additional information about the evidence of signposting given to a customer by the participating company. What does this mean for participating companies? For early resolution (ER) cases we will ask you to provide confirmation during contact on the ER proposal. For all other cases the deadlock or eight week letter should be included in the case file provided to us. We will include this data in the reporting and insight we provide to you. 

‘Initial decision’ calls ceased 'Initial decision' calls ceased As you may be aware, we are no longer asking our investigation officers (IOs) to call participating companies at initial decision stage to deliver their findings. The introduction of the ADR regulations required that we change our process to provide a written explanation of the rationale behind a decision to both parties. We now issue a concise written report to both parties to meet the regulatory requirement which means there is no need to call the companies to deliver the initial decision. What does this mean for participating companies? We'd appreciate if you could inform your case handlers that our IOs will no longer call them to deliver the outcome of the investigation. Our report/analysis will be provided via the Peppermint portal. If you want to discuss the investigation you can still call our IO, but we would expect to receive any representations via the portal. It's important that you provide as much information and explanation as possible in the case file - this is your opportunity to set out your version of events and to provide the necessary evidence to support your case. We will still call you if we require any further information or explanation, or if we want to check that a proposed remedy can be implemented. There is no change to the way we communicate with consumers so, where possible, IOs will still call consumers to explain their findings and any proposed remedy.

Kevin Gleave – Energy Sector Expert Case Studies Kevin Gleave – Energy Sector Expert

Case Study scenario 1 The customer is a vulnerable customer as she is elderly, lives alone and has a weekly pension allowance. She is unable to read her electricity meter as it is too high for her to view without the need for stepladders. However, she would rather not use the stepladders as she is afraid that she will fall.   The customer has contacted the supplier on four occasions over a period of 12 months to request for her meter to be read. Contact was made by the customer upon receipt of an estimated quarterly bill. On each occasion the supplier arranged for a meter operative to visit the property, they failed to attend the appointment. The supplier recognised this by applying the Guaranteed Service Standard payments to the customer’s account. Impact As the supplier did not receive an actual meter reading for the gas supply it estimated the customer’s energy consumption. When a meter operative attended the property to obtain a reading it resulted in the supplier issuing a catch up bill in excess of £300. The customer panicked and suggested not using her gas supply despite the winter period approaching. Resolution Relocate the meter so the customer can provide accurate meter readings A payment plan taking into account the customer’s ability to pay An apology for the shortfalls in customer service that the customer experienced A goodwill credit of £50 in recognition of the customer service shortfalls

Case Study Scenario 1 comments I am satisfied that the supplier acted correctly by arranging for a meter operative to attend the property on each occasion an appointment failed. I am also satisfied the supplier’s proposal was fair and reasonable given the circumstances. Nevertheless, whilst I understand that meter operatives act as a third party, I wanted to highlight the impact a failed appointment may have on a vulnerable customer. For example, if the customer did not raise a complaint and decided not to use the gas supply over the winter period this may have had an adverse effect on the customer’s health. The question is do we think that there are vulnerable customers out there that would not raise this type of complaint and simply stop using their energy?  

Case Study Scenario 2 The customer lives in an apartment block and contacted the supplier to explain that the electricity meter associated with his apartment differs from that on his bill. The supplier agreed to send an engineer to the property in order to confirm which meter serial number was correct.  The customer was required to be at the property to grant access to the engineer to the metering room in the apartment block. However, the appointment failed on three separate occasions. The supplier recognised this by applying the payments in line with the Guaranteed Service Standards.   Impact As a working adult the customer has had to arrange time away from work to attend the appointments on four separate (the fourth being the successful visit). On each appointment date the customer has had to take time away from his employer by taking either:  annual leave; or unpaid leave. Resolution Apology for the shortfalls in customer service experienced A goodwill payment of £50 in recognition of the service experienced.

Case Study Scenario 2 comments Again this is another complaint where the supplier acted quickly and correctly by arranging for a meter operative to attend the property on each occasion an appointment failed. I am also satisfied the supplier’s proposal was fair and reasonable given the circumstances.   That being said, I wanted to highlight the impact that the failed appointments could potentially have on this customer. For example, this customer had to arrange time away from his employer on four separate occasions. This could have implications for the customer if his employer was not happy with the time he was taking away from work. This may be extreme, but there is the possibility that the customer could be disciplined by his employer.

Case Studies Overall Recommendations Recommendations In the short term I think it would help suppliers if they managed customers’ expectations at an earlier stage. For example, a supplier could explain the process to a customer when booking an engineer appointment. The supplier could say: “Your appointment has been booked for 31 January 2017 between 8am and 12pm. You will be required to attend the appointment so the meter operative can access your property. In the unlikely event that the engineer does not arrive within the allocated time then please contact our office. You may be entitled to a £30 payment for the missed appointment.” Long term, is there a possibility that suppliers can look at the agreement between you and the meter operatives to improve the level of service. I am confident that if suppliers start to manage customer expectations with regards to meter appointments then this will reduce the volume of complaints coming to Ombudsman Services.

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