ScottishPower fined £18 million for customer service failings

Most of the fine to be handed over to affected customers.

ScottishPower has been fined £18 million after more than one million customers complained about its service over 30 months.

Energy regulator Ofgem said the firm had failed to treat its customers fairly and criticised its “inadequate” call handling, billing and complaint resolution systems.

The failings were related to ScottishPower’s implementation of a new IT system.

Up to £15 million of the fine will be paid out to vulnerable customers affected by the issues, with the remainder to be handed over to charity.

Last September, a survey by campaign group Which? ranked ScottishPower as the worst company in Britain in terms of how it deals with customers.

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What both sides had to say about the fine

In announcing the fine, Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan accused ScottishPower of letting its customers down. “When things went wrong, it didn’t act quickly enough to fix them,” he said.

“This created frustration and worry for many customers, who also wasted a lot of time trying to contact the supplier by phone.

“The £18 million payment sends a strong message to all energy companies about the importance of treating consumers well at all times, including while new systems are put in place.”

In response, ScottishPower energy retail and generation CEO Neil Clitheroe said the firm “apologised unreservedly” to those customers affected and claimed its service had “improved significantly” since its IT systems were upgraded.

“In order to upgrade our old systems, we invested £200 million on new technology to allow us to deliver smarter digital products and services to benefit our customers,” he said.

“During the complex transition between systems we encountered a range of technical issues. This lead to an unacceptable increase in complaints and reduced the quality of our customer service.”

Clitheroe added that no customer would be left out of pocket by those issues and would continue to compensate anyone affected.

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A difficult week for ScottishPower

The fine comes less than a week after the energy giant was accused by MPs of mis-selling warranties on appliances in the early 2000s and subsequently trying to cover it up – although it has denied the claims.

If you’re unhappy with the service from your energy supplier, read our guide on how to complain effectively.

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