Over the 12 month period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016, the Energy and Water Ombudsman received 1,907 complaints and closed 1,885 complaints. In addition 84 enquiries were received. The following chart shows the breakdown of complaints and enquiries received for gas, electricity and water in 2015-16.
Overall complaints have decreased by 13% in 2015-16 including a 14% decrease in electricity complaint numbers, a 9% decrease in gas complaint numbers and a further 7% decrease in water complaints.
Further details of the trends in electricity complaints over the last five years are shown in the following chart. After a significant increase in electricity complaints in 2009-10 and 2010-11, there has been a significant decrease over the past five years, including a 31% decrease in 2013-14, a further 25% decrease in 2014-15 and a further 14% decrease in 2015-16.
Complaints are finalised through resolution by the electricity, gas or water provider where possible and, if the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the complaint is investigated. The complaint stages and action taken by the Energy and Water Ombudsman at each stage are shown below.
Stage 1 Complaints |
The person has not yet contacted the electricity, gas or water provider. The person is referred to the relevant provider. |
Stage 2 Complaints |
The person has had at least one contact with their electricity, gas or water provider (such as contact to the call centre) but the complaint has not been resolved. The Energy and Water Ombudsman refers the complaint to a ‘higher level’ officer for resolution within 10 business days. |
Investigated Complaints |
If a complaint remains unresolved after it has been referred to a ‘higher level’ officer at the relevant provider, the matter is investigated by the Energy and Water Ombudsman. |
In 2015-16, there were 1,885 complaints closed, comprising 1,363 electricity complaints, 254 gas complaints and 268 water complaints.
The Energy and Water Ombudsman has maintained its high levels of timeliness in 2015-16 with 89% of electricity complaints, 96% of gas complaints, 89% of water complaints and 90% of all complaints being finalised within 10 business days. The following charts show the timeframes for resolving electricity, gas and water complaints in 2015-16.
Issues raised in electricity, gas and water complaints fall into the following categories:
Billing |
Complaints about bills including alleged errors and disputes over meter readings and fees and charges. |
Credit |
Complaints about payment arrangements, debt collection issues and payment difficulties. |
Customer Service |
Complaints about alleged poor customer service. |
Supply |
Complaints about the quality and reliability of supply of electricity, gas or water. |
Provision |
Complaints about connection issues. |
Land |
Complaints about the way a Scheme Member has exercised its powers in relation to land. |
Service Standard Payments |
Complaints about regulated payments for poor service. |
Transfer |
Complaints about transfers from one supplier to another. |
Marketing |
Complaints about the marketing activities of Scheme Members. |
Drainage, Irrigation or Sewerage |
Complaints about the supply of drainage, irrigation or sewerage. |
General |
Complaints not covered by other categories, including complaints by a person affected by a water service. |
As for previous years, during 2015-16, billing remains the most common issue raised for electricity, gas and water complaints. Billing issues were raised in 43% of complaints received (39% of electricity complaints, 53% of gas complaints and 53% of water complaints). During the year there has been a decrease in billing complaints of 15% for electricity, 12% for gas and 15% for water.
Credit is also a common issue for energy complaints, and credit issues were raised in 33% of electricity complaints and 29% of gas complaints.
The following charts show the trends in issues raised in complaints over the last five years. "Other" includes Marketing, Transfer and Service Standard Payment and complaints by a person affected by a water service.
Complaints about billing and credit issues may be made for a range of reasons. The main types of billing and credit issues are:
Types of Billing Issues |
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High Bill |
Bill higher than expected. |
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Alleged Error |
Alleged billing errors. |
|
Meter |
Metering issues. |
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Non Application |
Disconnections due to the customer not applying for an account. |
|
Tariff |
Incorrect rates or lack of information about tariffs. |
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Fees |
Fees and charges. |
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Pensioner Rebate |
Rebate has not been applied or has been incorrectly applied. |
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Format |
Format or lack of adequate information on bill. |
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Other |
Includes backbills, GST, historical debt, payment periods and security deposit. |
|
Types of Credit Issues |
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Arrears |
Credit arrears. |
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Debt Collection |
Credit rating or debt collection issues. |
|
Bill and Debt Payments |
Customer has received a high bill and has difficulty in payment, has difficulty paying debts or problems with payment arrangements. |
For electricity, gas and water complaints, the main reasons for billing complaints are high bills and alleged errors. For gas and water complaints, fees are another key reason for billing complaints.
For both electricity and gas, the main reason for credit complaints is payment of arrears and debt collection.
The trends over the last five years in the different types of billing and credit issues are shown in the following charts.
Gas and electricity retailers sometimes disconnect supply when a customer has failed to pay their bill or has not applied for an account when they take up a new residence. Before disconnecting, a reminder notice and then a disconnection warning should be sent. Complaints about reminder notices and disconnection warnings are recorded by the Energy and Water Ombudsman as impending disconnections. Complaints about a disconnection that has already occurred are recorded as actual disconnections. Water providers typically restrict a service rather than disconnect.
During 2015-16, there were:
The following charts show trends in electricity billing and credit issues involving, and not involving, disconnections. For electricity there was a decrease in complaints about actual disconnections in 2012-13, which was maintained in 2013-14 and 2014-15. There has been a further decrease in complaints about actual disconnections in 2015-16.
Actual or impending disconnections can occur for the following reasons:
Reasons for Disconnection |
|
Arrears and Backbills |
Customer has not paid their bill or a backbill for a previous period. |
Alleged Error |
Customer claims that they have been, or are about to be, disconnected due to an alleged error by the retailer. |
Non Application |
The customer has moved into or acquired a property and not applied to their retailer for an account to be established. |
For both electricity and gas, most complaints received about disconnections relate to arrears in bill payments. The following charts show the trends in the reasons for all disconnections (actual and impending) over the last five years.
The following case study illustrates the issues raised in complaints about disconnections.
The Energy and Water Ombudsman refers complaints to the electricity, gas or water services provider to resolve the matter in the first instance and most complaints are resolved directly between the customer and the provider. If the customer does not consider the matter is resolved they can bring their complaint back to the Energy and Water Ombudsman for investigation.
In some complaints, where there is the potential for an early resolution, the Energy and Water Ombudsman may ask the customer to give their provider a final opportunity to resolve the complaint. The customer and the provider are informed that, if the matter is not resolved in a reasonable timeframe, the customer can bring it back to the Energy and Water Ombudsman and it will be investigated.
There were 125 investigated electricity complaints, 7 investigated gas complaints and 26 investigated water complaints finalised during 2015-16.
As shown in the following chart, consistent with a decline in electricity, gas and water complaints received, the number of investigated complaints in 2015-16 has decreased compared to 2014-15.
There has been a decrease in the proportion of complaints finalised after an investigation in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15, as shown in the following chart.
Complaints that proceed to investigation may be finalised for the following reasons:
For most investigated complaints the investigation ceases because:
Smaller proportions of complaints are finalised because they are found, during the investigation, to be out of jurisdiction or further investigation is not warranted. In 2015-16 there was one complaint found to be out of jurisdiction.
There were no binding determinations by the Energy and Water Ombudsman in the 2015-16 reporting period.
The following chart shows the outcomes of the investigated electricity complaints finalised in 2015-16 broken down by the issue of the complaint.
The outcomes of the seven investigated gas complaints were that two complaints were resolved and five complaints were not sustained.
The outcomes of the 26 investigated water complaints were that seven complaints were resolved, 18 complaints were not sustained and one complaint was out of jurisdiction.
Electricity, gas and water providers may offer a range of actions to resolve a complaint including reducing bills, correcting or removing credit listings, providing the complainant with more time to pay, or providing compensation, an explanation or an apology. Bills may be reduced for a variety of reasons including correction of errors (for example, payment of rebate entitlements). Compensation may be paid where a customer has suffered a loss or damage due to the actions of their electricity, gas or water provider.
In 2015-16, there were 62 actions offered by electricity providers to resolve the 32 investigated electricity complaints that were resolved during the year.
The number of actions undertaken is higher than the number of complaints resolved as there is often more than one action taken by the provider to resolve the complaint. For example, the retailer may reduce the bill and offer an apology.
The following chart provides the breakdown of the actions offered to resolve investigated complaints for billing complaints and complaints about other issues.
There were seven actions offered by gas providers for the seven investigated gas complaints that were resolved in 2015-16, including:
There were nine actions offered by water providers for the 26 investigated water complaints that were resolved in 2015-16, including:
The following case studies illustrate the resolutions offered by providers.
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