British Gas gets £2.6m bill for overcharging

BRITISH Gas has had to pay out £2.65million after it wrongly tried to punish nearly 100,000 customers who wanted to move to cheaper rivals.

Energy watchdog Ofgem said the company failed 2.5million customers on fixed-rate deals when it warned them they would have to pay exit fees if they moved supplier just before their tariff was due to end. Not only was this not allowed under industry rules, but the company then went on to hit 1,698 households with these bogus fees, charging them £64,968.

Separately, it incorrectly charged 94,211 customers under its more expensive standard variable rate tariff. The mistake led to the overcharging of these customers by some £782,450.

The revelations appear to confirm suspicions that power giants deliberately make it difficult for customers to shop around.

The firm has refunded all those overcharged by more than £1 and paid out £502,633 in compensation.

It has also agreed to pay a further £244,770 to customers wrongly charged exit fees and the standard variable tariff. It will also pay £1.1million into a fund run by Ofgem that issues grants to charities which help families struggling with energy bills.

A spokesman for British Gas, which is owned by Centrica, said: ‘A system error led to a small proportion of customers being incorrectly charged.’