More than half a million households and small businesses a year could be missing out on compensation from their energy company for inaccurate billing or poor customer service, or be forced to wait months for their complaint to be dealt with, according to new research uncovered by Labour. The research shows that the number of unresolved complaints about energy companies could be 20 times higher than official figures suggest.

At the Energy UK Conference on Wednesday 22 October, Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, who uncovered the figures, is expected to call on the energy companies to freeze prices until 2017 and to warn that companies that repeatedly mistreat customers could lose their licences, under a Labour Government.

Ms Flint will say:

“It’s bad enough when the public have cause for complaint with their energy supplier, but for energy companies to refuse to compensate consumers or string out the complaints process for months on end is completely unacceptable.

“These figures lay bare the full scale of poor customer service and public dissatisfaction with the energy market. That’s why the next Labour Government will freeze energy prices until 2017, reform the energy market and create a tough new regulator with the power to strip energy companies of their licences if they repeatedly mistreat customers.”