Energy Suppliers and Consumer Rights

Dan Poulter Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[Wendy Chamberlain]

That is not dissimilar to some of the cases I have seen in North East Fife. It seems to be that if we speak to a different person at the end of the phone at a different time, we get a completely different outcome. That is simply not acceptable.

Citizens Advice has said that there was a 230% increase in energy complaints to its Extra Help Unit this winter. For the first time, that has made energy the top advice issue. This is not confined to Oxford West and Abingdon or North East Fife; it is taking place throughout the UK.

[Dr Dan Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

There is also a broader issue with the Government energy rebate during the winter period. People who live in park homes receive the energy rebate at the behest of the park home owner—they do not get a direct energy rebate from the energy company—but they are still potentially liable to the energy company. What would the hon. Lady suggest that the Minister do to ensure that park home residents receive the benefit of the energy rebates that the Government have made available, and to ensure that energy companies and park home owners are held accountable so that the energy rebates go to the residents of the park homes?

[Wendy Chamberlain]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I, too, have park homes in my constituency, and that issue has come up. At the moment, we are completely dependent on the good will and good conduct of park home owners when it comes to ensuring that those living in park homes get their rebates. We need to consider the legislative agenda. The Energy Bill, which I will come to, had its First Reading in the House today and we should certainly be thinking about that.

What I am trying to say is that contacting an MP has sometimes become the only route for constituents who seek redress; as constituency MPs, we all know that. That is widespread. We can see that something in the system is failing, which is why I secured this debate. The Government have a role in consumer protection and the energy market. Just today, two new Bills have been introduced to the House: one, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, is explicitly about consumer rights, and the other is the Energy Bill. Both are about making our system fit for the future. Over the last year, we have seen that the Government have a role in ensuring that the energy market is working for consumers and that people can afford to pay their bills.

I would like to outline some of the problems that my constituents have been having before I return to the question of consumer rights. Overcharging has already been mentioned. A quarter of all the correspondence that I have received has been about that, which suggests that a huge number of people in the country—thousands, if not hundreds of thousands—must have the same issue. We know that energy bills have gone up and that there has been action to help people cope, but this issue is not about that. It is about energy companies billing families huge sums of money for energy that they have not used and about families doing their best to manage the cost of living—keeping costs down, putting food on the table and keeping afloat—and finding themselves facing debts of hundreds of pounds.

The overcharging comes in two forms, and both are deeply harmful. Imagine that you are a direct debit customer who pays bills monthly, accruing credit on your account. Those payments might have gone up when you renewed your contract last year, but that is fine because you planned for it. You budgeted. It has been difficult, but you made it work because that is what we all have to do. You have done your best to reduce your energy usage to make sure you did not end the year in debt. You have done everything that you reasonably can—[Interruption.]