03/04/2013

SSE Fined £10.5m By Industry Watchdog

Energy provider SSE has been fined a record £10.5m by industry watchdog Ofgem.

The regulator said the penalty is the largest it has issued to an energy firm.

The fine comes after SSE was found to be repeatedly mis-selling to householders.

Speaking about the fine, Ofgem said: "The level of fine reflects the seriousness and duration of breaches, the likely substantial harm that they have caused and the likely gain to SSE."

Ofgem found that a failure of SSE's management arrangements meant that insufficient attention was paid to ensuring compliance with obligations. It added that this enabled misleading and unsubstantiated statements to be made by sales agents to potential customers about savings.

SSE is one of Britain's "big six" energy suppliers.

On its website, the firm said: "We've been busy making lots of practical changes to make it simpler, fairer and easier for you to deal with us. We're building a better way to do business, and we believe the changes we are making will improve the energy industry for good."

As part of the investigation, the regulator found failures at "every stage" of the sales process for telephone, in-store and doorstep activities carried out by SSE.

(JP/CD)

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