E.ON CEO Says: "We Will Put This Right."

17th May 2014

Settlement agreed with Ofgem. A penalty payment of £1 and a fuel poverty package amounting to £12million across a group of about 333,000 vulnerable customers including those who received Warm Home Discount payments;
In addition, about 465,000 customers to receive notification they may have received incorrect information when choosing their energy tariff;

Any concerned customers can call the E.ON Sales Compensation Fund on 0800 056 8497
Following Ofgem's conclusion of its investigation into E.ON's sales, E.ON has today (FRI) apologised to customers and confirmed it is working to ensure the failings of the past cannot be repeated.

Between June 2010 and December 2013, Ofgem has identified that E.ON failed to have in place sufficient safeguards to ensure the appropriate selling of energy tariffs. This meant that consumers were potentially not given the right information to make appropriate choices. The findings make clear there was no organised attempt to mislead or misinform but E.ON acknowledges the seriousness of its failings.

In addition to other measures, E.ON has agreed with Ofgem that about 465,000 customers will receive letters highlighting that they may have been sold their energy tariff in a way that did not meet the standards expected by E.ON or the regulator.

Tony Cocker, Chief Executive of E.ON UK, said: "We are really sorry and want to make it absolutely clear that we're putting this right.

"It is completely unacceptable that we may have been unclear with customers about their tariff choices and as a result those customers may not have made the best choices for them. There was no organised attempt to mislead, and Ofgem has acknowledged this, but that does not excuse the fact we did not have in place enough rules, checks and oversight."

"We are completely overhauling our sales operations and have already ended face to face sales, outbound residential telephone cold calling, and have revised and improved controls in our telesales operations. Whilst we have already put in place a number of changes to meet our customers' and our own expectations, we can and should always be looking to improve our controls and our service.

"We can now start to make amends where mistakes have been made."

Who could be affected?

E.ON has identified customers who purchased a tariff between June 2010 and December 2013 who are most likely to have been affected (further details below) and is taking steps to contact them. Other customers can also request to have their account further investigated by contacting E.ON's dedicated team (details below).

Making amends:

About 465,000 customers will receive a letter outlining the steps they should take to have their account investigated by the E.ON Sales Compensation Fund as they are potentially affected by the failings. Any customers identified through the investigation process as being on the Priority Services Register will automatically receive payment from E.ON and this will be made clear in the letter they receive. This means no action will be required from this customer segment.
About 333,000 vulnerable customers, including those who received the Warm Home Discount payment from E.ON this winter (2013/14) and were a customer on the 30thApril 2014, will receive an additional payment of around £35. This element totals £12m and forms part of the settlement agreed with Ofgem.
Customers with concerns can contact the E.ON Sales Compensation Fund by calling0800 056 8497 for more information.