Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of covering credit balances as a result of supplier failures over the last twelve months for which figures are available.

Ofgem determines the costs that a receiving supplier can recover, including the cost of honouring credit balances that customers had with the insolvent supplier. The costs are paid via a levy on all suppliers, which they will reflect in their pricing and which Ofgem will take account of it in calculating the price cap. The cost is not met from exchequer funds.