The energy regulator has called out five of the country’s biggest household energy suppliers for their treatment of customers amid complaints of unjustified direct debit levels.
Ofgem said that Ecotricity, Good Energy, Green Energy UK, Utilita Energy and TruEnergy had been found to have moderate to severe weaknesses or failings on the issue.
Another firm, UK Energy Incubator Hub, was also placed in this category but the watchdog said it was no longer trading.
Ofgem said that the active suppliers had now been required to take “immediate and urgent action”.
The problems ranged, Ofgem said, from inadequately documented or embedded processes, weak governance and controls, to an overall lack of a structured approach to setting customer direct debits.
It declared that these issues could lead to direct debits being set incorrectly or not being evaluated for a long time.
Out of a total of 17 large suppliers in the market, the majority were found to only have minor issues.
The regulator said there were no major concerns over direct debit operations at British Gas, EDF, ScottishPower and SO Energy.
Those found to have minor weaknesses consisted of Bulb, E.ON, Octopus Energy, Outfox the Market, Ovo, Shell and Utility Warehouse.