In the f
ifth instalment of our Fine Times Table series we look at the energy market since our 2009 inception and the number of times, and amount, the Big 6 energy suppliers have been fined for various market misdemeanours.
It had been a quiet few months for Ofgem after a busy end to 2014 fining suppliers and generators for failings under the CESP scheme.
However Ofgem are back into the swing of things with their latest fine being levied on E.ON for ‘repeat overcharging’.
Ofgem explained:
“Under Ofgem obligations, suppliers had to give customers 30 days’ notice of a price rise; this allowed customers the chance to switch before the increase took effect and without incurring exit fees…. when a supplier was notified that a customer wished to terminate their contract, because of the price rise, they were not permitted to apply the higher charges to that customer if they subsequently received notice confirming that another supplier would be taking over supply.”
E.ON admitted its breach.
The latest fine means that in total the Big 6 suppliers have faced financial penalties totalling £83,885,000 since 2009.
We’ve updated our ‘Fine Times Table’ accordingly and this is what the last 6 years of Big 6 performance have delivered:
Business Juice’s Fine Times Table – April 2015
Ofgem were clearly slow to react to misdemeanours with fines in the early years of 2009-10 however once into their stride their application, the size and regularity of punishment increased and have grown significantly in 2013/14.
In total the Big 6 energy suppliers have been fined an astonishing £84m in just 5 years
| Supplier | Date | Fine | Reason |
| E.ON | Apr-15 | £7,750,000 | Over-charging* |
| Scottish Power | Dec-14 | £2,400,000 | CESP failings |
| SSE | Dec-14 | £1,750,000 | CESP failings |
| British Gas | Dec-14 | £11,100,000 | CESP failings |
| EDF Energy | Aug-14 | £3,000,000 | Complaints |
| British Gas | Jul-14 | £1,000,000 | Mis-Selling |
| Scottish Power | May-14 | £750,000 | Over-charging |
| E.ON | May-14 | £12,000,000 | Mis-Selling |
| Npower | May-14 | £125,000 | Reporting errors |
| British Gas | Apr-14 | £5,600,000 | Transfer blocking |
| Npower | Dec-13 | £3,500,000 | Mis-Selling |
| Npower | Dec-13 | £1,000,000 | Billing * |
| Scottish Power | Oct-13 | £8,500,000 | Mis-Selling |
| E.ON | Jul-13 | £3,000,000 | Reporting errors * |
| SSE | Apr-13 | £10,500,000 | Mis-Selling |
| E.ON | Nov-12 | £1,700,000 | Over-charging* |
| EDF Energy | Mar-12 | £4,500,000 | Mis-Selling* |
| Npower | Oct-11 | £2,000,000 | Complaints |
| British Gas | Jul-11 | £2,500,000 | Complaints |
| British Gas | Jul-11 | £1,000,000 | Reporting errors |
| EDF Energy | Jun-10 | £200,000 | Complaints |
| Total | £83,885,000 |
Business Juice’s Fine Times Table
The suppliers – April 2015
In ranking order, the worst transgressor, or at least the Big 6 supplier that has been fined the most is now E.ON with fines totalling over £24m. In contrast nPower have faced the least sanctions of the Big 6 despite their continued service problems.
| Supplier | Fine |
| E.ON | £24,450,000 |
| British Gas | £21,210,000 |
| SSE | £12,250,000 |
| Scottish Power | £11,650,000 |
| British Gas | £10,100,000 |
| EDF Energy | £7,700,000 |
| Npower | £6,625,000 |
| Total | £83,8855,000 |
Note that these totals do not include the fines levied on EDF Energy’s network business over the period.
The reasons – April 2015
The fines are dominated by supplier mis-selling with a total of £40m of fines representing 48% of all fines however the impact of Ofgem’s December fining spree has pushed failings under the CESP scheme into second place ahead of over-charging, complaints and transfer blocking.
| Reason | Fine |
| Mis-Selling | £40,000,000 |
| CESP Failings | £15,260,000 |
| Complaints | £7,700,000 |
| Transfer blocking | £5,600,000 |
| Reporting errors | £4,125,000 |
| Over-charging | £2,450,000 |
| Billing | £1,000,000 |
| Total | £76,135,000 |
We hope the list won’t get too much bigger, especially with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) Investigation underway, however you can be sure that if any new fines are added in 2015 we’ll reissue the latest ‘Fine Times Table’.
* Voluntary / negotiated payment in lieu of fine
Previous “Fine Times Tables” stories: