Energy supplies

Duncan Sedgwick, chief executive of the Energy Retail Association, said: "The select committee’s report relates to an inquiry that took place seven months ago.

"Energy suppliers were developing new policies on disconnection before the inquiry began and throughout the winter a new safety net procedure has been used successfully by suppliers and, as a result, no vulnerable person has been disconnected.

"Our procedures strike a balance between those who need help to pay their bills and those who try to avoid paying for their gas and electricity.

"The safety net procedures that we have introduced have enabled us to identify customers who may be living in fuel poverty and struggle to find the money to heat their homes or older people who need help managing their household affairs.

"In these cases customers will not be cut off but will be offered debt advice and help to repay their bills. Often this involves putting them in touch with social services, government agencies or voluntary groups.

"We can already start to tick the boxes against the issues that Mr O’Neill mentions. As a result of the kind of improvements that the committee is calling for complaints have dropped 88 per cent, customer transfer complaints are down 63 per cent and billing complaints are down about 22 per cent. We have just begun a programme of work to review billing systems.

"It is sometimes difficult to identify vulnerable customers and often those people do not like to seek help. This means that on occasions it is not until the engineer arrives at a premises with the intention of disconnecting the supply that suppliers become aware that a customer is at risk.

"Depending on the circumstances the local social service officer may be notified or the supplier may arrange for their own specialist advisers to visit.

"We do not think a ban on disconnections is in the interest of most people. A ban was introduced on water utilities and we have seen rising consumer debt, increased costs and higher bills as result.

"It is not fair that the majority of customers should foot the bill of those who use gas and electricity without paying for it. If people have genuine reasons for not paying a bill, they should call their supplier who will try to help them."

Stakeholder Response: National Consumer Council

Georgia Klein, senior policy officer at the National Consumer Council, said: "The committee makes a number of sensible recommendations for change.

"The NCC particularly wants to see better protection for those on low incomes. A quarter of people using pre-payment meters disconnect themselves from gas and energy supplies.

"Industry needs to introduce more innovative solutions for people already in debt and on low incomes, including better provision of payment methods - such as payment to

suppliers direct from people’s benefits and cheaper pricing structures."