Energy suppliers row over how to protect customers’ overpaid credit

The energy regulator, Ofgem, is trying to reform the market after hundreds of millions of pounds were lost when suppliers went bust last year. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The owner of British Gas has hit back at rival Octopus Energy in a row over how best to protect households’ overpaid credit in the fallout from a string of supplier failures.

Centrica’s chief executive, Chris O’Shea, said its competitor’s proposed solution to protect consumers with an insurance scheme would allow companies to “operate risky business models and dip into customers’ deposits as a free overdraft facility”.