Major energy supplier pays out £144 compensation to 250,000 customers after failing to give final bills and refunds

A MAJOR energy supplier will hand out £144 in compensation to 250,000 customers.

E.ON Next - part of the E.ON Energy Group - has been asked to pay up after it failed to give final bills and refunds to pre-payment meter customers.

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An investigation by the energy regulator, Ofgem, found almost a quarter of a million accounts were affected between February 2021 and September 2023.

This was due to an error within its billing system, which E.ON Next self-reported to Ofgem.

Because of this issue, prepayment customers who transferred to another supplier or terminated their contract did not receive final bills within six weeks, as required under Ofgem’s rules.

The energy watchdog said this failure meant exiting customers were not aware of extra cash left over on their accounts.

It was found that some 100,000 of the accounts were in credit, with an average of £51 left over.

Beth Martin, director for consumer protection and competition at Ofgem, said E.ON's actions were "unacceptable", especially at a time when customers are struggling with rising household bills.

She added: “E.ON Next has demonstrated an understanding of the significant impact this issue may have had on its customers, and it’s encouraging that they self-reported the issue and have worked with us to resolve it."

E.ON said that impacted customers have been contacted directly to inform them about the payment.

It also agreed to voluntarily write off debt held by almost 150,000 prepayment meter customers who closed their accounts with the supplier from February 2021 and September 2023.

Where they have not been able to trace a customer the firm said it has agreed to make additional payments to the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund.