Citizens Advice, in its roles as the official consumer watchdog for domestic and microbusiness energy consumers, has responded to Ofgem’s announcement of proposals for new protections for microbusinesses.
Dame Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“The proposals announced yesterday are good news for around 1.5m microbusinesses. Our research showed how the actions of unscrupulous brokers can lead to microbusinesses paying more than they need to, being aggressively pursued for debts and being needlessly disconnected.
“Cooling-off periods, brokers being part of alternative dispute resolution processes and other measures would provide microbusinesses with significantly improved protections.
“Microbusinesses are diverse and range from pubs and convenience stores to sole traders like photographers and many will have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as these changes, Ofgem must make sure microbusinesses struggling with debts are treated fairly by suppliers in the months ahead.”
Background
Citizens Advice research (October 2019) found that around 1.5 million UK businesses faced a greater risk of having their energy supply disconnected than the average household, and that some microbusinesses were being exploited by unscrupulous energy brokers.