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Gordon Brown has asked the head of Energy Regular’s Offgem to resign. I It revealed that the company was forcing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable customer homes to be fitted with expensive prepaid meters.
The former Labor prime minister has accused Jonathan Brearley of failing “miserably” to protect his customers and suggested he should “consider his position”.
Two months of research by I With limited consideration of the customer’s vulnerability, the court revealed that it was giving bulk warrants to install meters that could automatically cut off power if not pre-refilled.
On Monday, the Chief Justice of England and Wales ordered a magistrate to stop processing applications by energy companies to install prepaid meters in homes.
write in Independent, said Brown. His official responsibilities couldn’t be clearer.
“His stated role is to ‘protect energy customers by ensuring they are treated fairly,’ and this is especially true as oil and gas companies record windfall profits. Important instructions.
“Rather than side with the public, Brearley, and the now reorganized Department of Energy, are miserable in properly overseeing and exposing utility companies and their debt agents in the midst of the worst cost of living. We need to explain why we failed right away: From 50 years of crisis, we’ve been breaking into the homes of our poor customers.”
Brown added that desperation over the issue has lured many people into payday lenders and illegal loan sharks to keep it in the spotlight.
A spokesperson for Ofgem claimed that it “quickly asked all suppliers to suspend the mandatory installation of prepaid meters while we conduct a deeper investigation into the matter.”
nearly two months later I Ofgem was the first to reveal how the warrants for installing prepaid meters are being waved. Earlier this month, Ofgem said it was launching an “urgent investigation” into British Gas after another newspaper reported on its use of British Gas’ practices.
The regulator said:
“We have initiated a major market-wide review examining the rapid growth of prepaid meter installations and the potential license violations driving it.
“At the moment, it is clear that suppliers must work hard to take care of their customers, especially those who are vulnerable. it won’t.”
The advance payment lawsuit is not the first time the energy regulator has been accused of not effectively regulating the dozens of private companies that control the UK’s energy sector.
A November report found that Ofgem’s failure to effectively regulate energy suppliers has cost households more than £2.7 billion since 2018, after dozens of businesses went bankrupt due to skyrocketing energy prices. I warned you that the bill had increased.
The Congressional Accounts Committee said regulators “had not struck the right balance between promoting competition in the energy supply market and ensuring energy suppliers were financially resilient. I pointed out.
Critics also accused Ofgem of prioritizing the needs of the energy industry over the needs of consumers following a heated debate over how to recoup the costs of a failed company.
In August, a member of Ofgem’s board of directors resigned over the issue, arguing the regulator had moved to strengthen the industry “at the expense of consumers.”