THOUSANDS of people in the north and north-east are to be offered compensation if they have been mis-sold contracts by a leading energy provider.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) – owners of the Scottish Hydro brand – announced last night that it is to contact 400,000 customers who were sold energy deals by door-to-door salesmen between October 2009 and July this year.
The firm has set aside £5million to settle the claims from people who were given inaccurate information – who will be refunded the money they have lost.
The energy company was found guilty of unfair trading in May after signing up customers using a misleading sales script.
The case heard that sales agents called on potential customers saying they had a printout of energy customers who, with recent changes, may be paying an expensive tariff.
However, no such printout existed and in July SSE became the first supplier in the UK to stop commission-based doorstep selling of energy.
From late January, it will write to all of its existing customers who it signed up through the doorstep sales over the two-year period – an estimated 50,000 in Scotland – to make them aware of the guarantee and to let them know what they need to do if they believe they have suffered any financial loss.
Applications will be independently assessed, SSE added.
The move was welcomed by watchdog Consumer Focus Scotland, which said it was an important step towards rebuilding the trust of energy customers.
Director Trisha McAuley said: “Ultimately, what people in Scotland want to see is energy firms doing the right thing first time, but when things do go wrong they need to see suppliers taking action to put things right.
“‘It’s only fair that the firm holds its hands up on any bad selling practices that have happened and refund customers in Scotland that have lost out as a result.
“This step should help people to claim back any money they lost without having to go through the Energy Ombudsman, which they would have to do otherwise.
“The detail needs to be carefully thought through on how any refunds are made to customers affected. We will be working with SSE to make sure this happens so that customers can have faith in the process.”
She added: “SSE has taken the action that its customers want to see in ending further unwanted doorstep selling. We now need to see E.ON following in the steps of the rest of the big six and stopping this unwanted sales practice, which has left millions of people switched to a worse deal on the doorstep.”
The energy company also announced it will hold an annual energy review to ensure that customers are on the right tariff and payment method, which the firm says will be offered to all customers as of October 2012.
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