TWO major energy companies will have to pay out £2.7million to thousands of customers who were overcharged.
The regulator Ofgem found Good Energy and OVO Energy charged over the maximum rates allowed under the energy price cap and energy price guarantee.
Thousands of customers will receive compensation
Good Energy was found to have overcharged nearly 7,000 customers a total of £391,650 between January 2019 and October 2022.
This was after the provider failed to adjust tariffs after customers changed their payment method.
Meanwhile, almost 11,000 OVO Energy customers were overcharged £1,492,917 between October 2022 and March 2023.
Affected customers will be automatically refunded so don’t have to do anything.
Good Energy customers will receive £109 each while OVO customers will get an average of £181.
Good Energy will also have to pay £1.25million to Ofgem for the inadequate systems, processes and repeated inaccurate reporting of information to the regulator over an extended period.
OVO will also have to pay £10,000 to the regulator for reporting issues.
Dan Norton, deputy director of retail at Ofgem said: “Protecting consumers is always our top priority, and we expect suppliers to ensure customers pay no more than the level of the price cap or energy price guarantee – schemes put in place with the very purpose of helping people.
“It is totally unacceptable that Good Energy and OVO Energy customers were overcharged, particularly at a time that is already so challenging and stressful for consumers across the UK.
“Energy suppliers should hear this loud and clear: we expect suppliers to act with the utmost care and integrity.
“We will continue to hold them to account if they do not meet their customer protection or reporting obligations.”
It comes after E.ON Next, Good Energy and Octopus Energy were forced to pay out millions of pounds to customers following compensation blunders.
Almost 95,000 E.On Next customers have been paid a total of £5.5million between them.
Meanwhile, Octopus Energy paid roughly £750,000 out to 19,000 customers.
Good Energy paid a combined total of £18,000 to nearly 350 customers.
An OVO Energy spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry to some of our fixed-price customers who experienced a delay in receiving the energy price guarantee discount.
“We noticed immediately and self-reported the error to Ofgem.
“The issue has now been fixed and compensation has been paid as an apology.
“We have also made a voluntary contribution to the redress fund to help support customers in vulnerable situations.”
HOAR approached Good Energy for comment.
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