Does Ofgem Actually Give a Shit?
I know that’s rude. But we waste so much time being polite and asking nicely, while people literally die in their freezing homes (story here) and babies are admitted to hospital with hypothermia because their parents can’t afford to heat up their bottles (story here).
Maybe [strikethrough ‘maybe’] it’s time to start speeaking plainly. It might encourage straight answers. (I know, foolish dreamer!) We don’t need to be friends, we need to dial down the polite and socially acceptable rhetoric and question all of these types of agencies — regulators, charities, funders, government departments etc — and ask them are they really doing everything they can to help people during these difficult times.
Personally, I don’t believe it. For example...
On Friday 27th January, two of Ofgem’s Vulnerable Consumer Team joined us at Greater Manchester Money Advice Group. It was a hybrid event (chuffing nightmare technologically speaking). Some of us attended in person, including me; Ofgem’s representatives were in Zoomspace somewhere.
Ofgem’s Vulnerability Team has a 3 years old strategy, which sets out over 74 pages (!) the many outcomes Ofgem wants to achieve for vulnerable consumers. In 2019, Ofgem was aware of the real difficulties disabled people were experiencing in meeting their often higher-than-average energy costs, and more than aware of all the prepayment meter customers self-disconnecting:
4.17. Our data shows that one in ten prepayment meter customers temporarily disconnected from their supply in 2017, which equates to 350,000 gas and 450,000 electricity customers self-disconnecting.
And they had really bold, far-reaching, ambitious goals to tackle this problem:
They also knew in 2019 that there was ‘a risk that consumers will ration more energy than is good for them in an attempt to save money’.
Ofgem stated that there were:
‘a number of reasons why prepayment meter customers self-disconnect ranging from affordability concerns, operational issues, forgetfulness and customer choice, [emphasis added because whaaaat?] whereas self-rationing is most likely to occur for affordability reasons. We are particularly concerned about the negative impacts on consumer’s health and wellbeing and how these can get significantly worse by living without gas or electricity.’
In 2020 they issued ‘A Decision’ about self-disconnection and self-rationing. I almost have to laugh writing this — I can’t take it seriously. They were putting protections in place and so on. So 3 years later, what with all this policying and decisioning and strong words and letters etc., what’s actually changed? Do prepayment meter customers now pay less for their energy, or does the poverty premium still apply to the most vulnerable and least well off among us? Do prepayment meters now have a built-in mechanism to prevent people from self-disconnecting, especially if they are, say, on a Priority Services Register? Have the magistrates stopped rubber-stamping warrants in their hundreds at a time, due to increasing news articles about people dying in cold homes?
No. And my theory on why is that the realities of these repeated, awful situations just don’t touch these people. Put simply, the people tasked with doing anything about these ‘societal issues’, are just too well off to conceive of what it’s really like to be that poor.
So I decided to test my theory by putting a question to the two Ofgem staff.
I told them that a friend of mine had sort of ruined my wellbeing recently (I was joking, a bit), when she introduced me to an app that shows you how much energy you are using — and how much it is costing — in real time. It’s called IVIE and is recommended by Eon Next, who I am now a customer of whether I like it or not.
Back to the question. I told them that my app was currently showing me - despite the fact my house is constantly freezing (even when the heating is on) and I’ve been trying to do what I can to reduce my usage — that my January bill so far is £387.
I asked them if they knew how much a single person, in receipt of the basic allowance of Universal Credit is paid each month.
The first answer was: ‘£600 per week?’ which resulted in sharp intakes of breath around the room.
‘Sorry, I meant £600 per month?’
I asked the other Ofgem rep if he knew the answer. Having seen the shocked expressions and heard the gasps, he went with the safer option of ‘No’.
‘Well, it’s £334. Per month.’ I said. (And that’s if you’re getting the full amount of course, deductions and sanctions notwithstanding.)
So, that energy bill of £387 that I’m facing, I continued, that’s all of my money gone and I’m still going to self-disconnect, and I haven’t any money for food, water, clothing etc. What am I going to do?
The answer from Ofgem’s Vulnerable Consumer Team was that the cost of living is affecting everyone and therefore they cannot be expected to be able to conceive of doing anything about it when everyone is in the same boat.
But of course we’re not all in the same boat. That’s the bloody point. Some of us are more vulnerable than others. Like those of us on very low incomes for whatever reason. And if those people on low, insufficient incomes happen to also be pensioners, or disabled people, or those with caring responsibilities or chronically ill, then it’s sort of obvious to anyone with an inkling of brain function that this section of people are going to struggle and suffer more over the winter months.
Every year, a percentage of these people will just die. Simple as that. And unless their deaths are reported in big, screaming headlines, then they will likely not even reach the consciousnesses of the very people charged with looking out for them.
And that leads me back to the start. Does Ofgem actually give a shit? If the answer is yes, then why the hell hasn’t there been urgent change? Why are the energy companies still charging more to prepayment customers, failing to answer their calls in a timely manner, putting their customers at the absolute bottom of their to-do lists, refusing to talk to third party representatives like me and generally behaving any which way they please, in the knowledge that Ofgem doesn’t take action. How many licences lost? None.
Is there even any point asking any more? I’ve watched how this government operates like everyone else, how the Department for Work and Pensions dodges bullets, one after the other. Neglect? Death? Cover-ups? Refusals to be transparent? All you need is a half-decent suit, a rather brazen disregard for those who are so poor, you know you will never meet them in the lobby of your favourite restaurant, and an ability to repeat — parrot fashion — anything your paymasters ask you to. If you can do that, you’re going to be OK and you can continue to schmooze the important and influential people who matter to your own well being without worrying about the vulnerable people too much.
Those suffering are a million miles away from you on a different planet. Not really your concern.
I thanked Ofgem for coming, because in real life I do try to be polite and pleasant. I’ll thank anyone who makes time to talk to debt advisers. We want answers for our clients, we want solutions. Give us something to work with and we’ll meet you more than half way. It may sound trite but our clients are right up against it and some really don’t have the capacity or the strength to fight for themselves. To be honest, sometimes neither do we.
As I said recently to Byline Times, worrying about debts, bailiffs, even the rent/mortgage – all of this builds up and there are steps before the shit really hits the fan. Not so with energy.
If you’re on a prepayment meter and you can’t afford to put money on it, you’re going to be disconnected. That’s it. No gas, no electricity.
No lights, no fridge, no heating. But still standing charges taking you further into the red. Ofgem tell you to go and see a Debt Adviser when this happens, and please do, we’ll help in any way we can. But until Ofgem start properly giving a shit about this, your options — and our options — remain extremely limited.
