Utilita Energy is to pay out £830,000 after it was rapped by regulator Ofgem over its support for vulnerable households.
The customers potentially affected will be sent £20 each by December 23, totalling £508,260, in most cases as a credit to their prepayment meter. Utilita has agreed to pay a further £321,740 into the Energy Redress Fund, which supports energy consumers in vulnerable situations. The money is being paid to some customers who had a request for additional support credit declined.
The industry watchdog said that the energy supplier, which has more than 775,000 electricity and 648,000 gas customers, failed to consider individual circumstances when providing additional support to 25,000 of its customers on prepayment meters, including those with medical issues and those classed as vulnerable. Utilita agreed to the financial redress package instead of a penalty, which means those customers affected will get the payment more quickly and Ofgem said it was happy with the outcome to the problem, which was highlighted in September.
