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Contrite energy supplier E voluntarily pays £260k to Ofgem over sales & marketing malpractice

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 23, 2017 | 3 min read

UK energy provider E has been hit by a £260k fine levied by energy regulator Ofgem over a string of shoddy marketing and sales practices by the utility provider.

E, Ofgem

Contrite energy supplier E voluntarily pays £260k to Ofgem over sales & marketing failures

An investigation found E guilty of recruiting sales agents via third-party agency Energy Watch UK, who went on to mislead customers by failing to notify them of their allegiance to E and by purporting to be an independent price comparison service.

This absence of transparency was compounded by a failure to implement any background checks for a full three years from 2014. This sluggish response led to Ofgem accusing E of unnecessary delays in rectifying these issues.

Belatedly E has now moved to end these practices by making its face-to-face sales process more transparent and conducting full criminal record checks on all future and existing sales agents but in a contrite move will voluntarily donate £260k to Ofgem’s Voluntary Redress Fund.

Ofgem's senior partner in improving regulation Martin Crouch commented: "E did not put security and transparency first when it came to face-to-face sales, and risked the trust and wellbeing of potential customers.

"This payment sends an important reminder to all suppliers that there's no room for misleading behaviour when it comes to selling energy.”

It is not thought that any customer lost out financially as a result of E’s poor working practices.

Ofgem hasn't been afraid to throw its weight around having previously threatened Scottish Power with a sales ban over its dismal customer service.

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