£44m fine for energy firm that left families without gas for months

A GAS firm that left customers without supplies for up to five months at a time has been hit with a record £44million penalty.

Cadent, which has 11million customers and was previously known as National Grid, abandoned thousands of families for weeks on end without hot water, heating and unable to use gas hobs.

Industry regulator Ofgem said it became aware last year that Cadent, when carrying out work such as pipe repairs, was increasingly leaving residents in blocks of flats without gas for longer than necessary.

It said that during unplanned outages in 2017 and 2018, thousands of Cadent customers were left without gas for an average of 19 days, while in the worst cases customers suffered for five months. Others did not receive the required compensation. It has now ordered Cadent to pay a £24million penalty to reflect the impact of its failures while another £20million will go into a community fund to help vulnerable customers.

Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan said: ‘Cadent has a duty of care and responsibility to millions of people across the country who rely on the gas it pipes to their homes for cooking and heating.

‘Cadent acknowledges that it failed these customers by leaving many without gas for longer than necessary and failing to properly compensate some of those affected.

‘Ofgem has worked with the company, which is under new ownership and has given commitment to improve its operations to put customers at the heart of the business, to help it address its failings and prevent further harm to customers’ interests. Cadent has also agreed to make a significant financial contribution to customers as redress in recognition of its past failings.’

Earlier this year, Cadent told the watchdog that it failed to pay the required compensation over six years to a possible 12,000 residents left without gas for more than 24 hours, and also reported that it had

‘Fallen short of expectations’

no records detailing the gas pipe networks for 775 tower blocks, potentially creating a safety concern when trying to identify the location of leaks.

Cadent chief executive Steve Hurrell apologised, saying the company had ‘fallen short of customer expectations and the higher standards we have now set ourselves’.

He added: ‘While Cadent is a relatively new business, some of its record-keeping processes and practices go back many decades, and a number of the issues we are addressing today are a legacy of that past.’

Ofgem said that for two years Cadent will double the statutory compensation payments for customers who unexpectedly lose their gas supply for more than 24 hours.