Energy companies are overcharging almost all of their customers, but we can stop them

There's nothing that terrifies the Big Six more than bad press, so whenever they try to fleece us we should put the heat on them

British Gas has so far bucked the trend by committing to keeping its gas and electricity prices on hold until August (PA)

I switched energy supplier last year. Or so I naively thought.

Three months on, they continued to bill me as though nothing had changed.

I called. I emailed. I left messages. I begged, threatened, cajoled. Repeatedly, they promised to resolve the problem and repeatedly they withdrew £243 from my bank account. They even advised against cancelling the direct debit on the grounds it would make it more difficult to refund the cash. Then they filched another £243.

It started to look less like a glitch in the system and more like a systematic ruse, an unreported scandal of a regulated utility holding on to millions of pounds of customers’ cash.

As a journalist, I knew this was a story. So I sent my query to their press office. Within 24 hours I had a personal call from the head of customer services to apologise – and my cash back by urgent bank transfer.

Well, great. But what about the thousands of other energy firm customers in the same position, but without the ability to get instant redress because of their job?

Newspaper consumer advice columns are full of complaints that get miraculously resolved when the journalists threatens to expose the offending company. But those cases represent a fraction of the total number routinely ripped off by energy suppliers, as revealed today by the latest investigation of the energy market.

A report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) shows that between 2007 and 2013 there has been a fivefold increase in complaints directly to energy suppliers, mainly about disputed charges, billing, customer service and problems with transfers. Cases received by the Energy Ombudsman more than doubled between 2013 and 2014.

A separate survey by the CMA shows that energy companies are trusted even less than banks, car insurance firms and mobile phone network providers. The Big Six energy suppliers owe an estimated £200m to former customers who have switched to a rival. That’s in addition to the positive cash flow and interest generated by “overpayments” from 15m existing loyal customers given estimated bills.

The CMA’s ongoing investigation has done a good job in highlighting this scandal – but little has been done directly to help those left out of pocket.

To my knowledge there are hundreds of ongoing cases where people are being fleeced by energy companies. One person I've spoken to was owed a massive £626.26. After the company was threatened with the press, their media relations team responded directly to Malcolm within three hours. He had been waiting for his money since last March.

When it comes to energy, we're all captive consumers: none of us can do without gas and electricity. But we can all live without the double dealing, dodgy practices and greed of the power firms. And that's why we need to make sure we're vigilant, and ensure that energy companies know that if they take our money they won't get away with it.

Bill Akass is Chief Content Officer at the customer justice website A Spokesman Said