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The Ombudsman's view
"Case numbers rose across both gas and electricity, with water cases remaining relatively steady. This coincides with the winter billing period, at a time when energy price tariff increases are being experienced by consumers who are facing broader cost-of-living pressures."
EWOV is already assisting many consumers who have raised concerns with us about high energy bills. At a time of increased cost of living pressures, we are likely to continue to hear these types of concerns, and will be working with businesses, regulators and government to improve outcomes so that consumers can have trust and confidence in the market.
Cases (both enquiries and complaints) increased significantly in the July to September 2022 quarter, rising 41% when compared to the previous quarter. This was largely due to a spike in high billing cases in July and August. This levelled out slightly in September, with the end of winter and a decline in seasonal Billing complaints.
Transfer and Customer service cases also increased sharply in the quarter, particularly for gas and electricity. This suggests that the increased movement of consumers and contact with energy and water businesses brought on by price increases has led to a spike in cases. Transfer cases rose 37% when compared to the previous quarter and customer service cases increased by 80%. We explore these developments in the Issues Watch section of this report.
Read on for more detail in the latest edition of Reflect. As always, you can find more data relating to our casework in the Data Hub.