Fines: Eon customers who changed suppliers or terminated their contracts did not receive a final invoice within six weeks, as expected

Electricity company Eon Next has agreed to pay £14.5m after “unacceptable” failures to provide final bills and refund credit balances to almost 250,000 pre-payment meter customers, a the energy watchdog said.

An error in the billing system between February 2021 and September last year meant that people who changed providers or ended a contract did not receive a final bill within six weeks, as required.

Many faced financial hardship as energy prices soared.

Eon Next failed to pay compensation of £30 or £60, while 100,000 customers were not informed of the remaining credit – worth an average of £51 – and did not get a refund.

Each affected customer is set to receive an average of £144 after Eon agreed to pay £14.5 million in compensation.

Beth Martin, of Ofgem, said: “During a period when households have faced a cost of living crisis, it is unacceptable that consumers have not received a refund for the credit they were owed. »

Eon self-reported the error and agreed to forgive debts held by nearly 150,000 customers who closed their accounts.

DIY INVESTMENT PLATFORMS

AJ Bell

AJ Bell

Easy investment and ready-to-use wallets

Hargreaves-Lansdown

Hargreaves-Lansdown

Free Fund Trading and Investing Ideas

interactive investor

interactive investor

Lump sum investment from £4.99 per month

Sax

Sax

Recover £200 in trading fees

Trading 212

Trading 212

Free transaction and no account fees

Affiliate links: If you subscribe to a product This is Money may earn a commission. These offers are selected by our editorial team because we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.

Compare the best investment account for you