Npower £26m fine demonstrates the importance of Quality Management

Npower, one of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies is being made to pay £26 million in response to complaints about the provider’s inaccurate billing and poor customer complaint management.

This is now the biggest fine given to an energy supplier, after Eon were fined £12m in May 2014 after infringing rules concerning energy sales. The fine is to be split between severely affected customers and numerous charities.

What went wrong for Npower?

The company received over 2 million complaints between September 2013 and December 2014, after billing discrepancies affected over 500,000 customers.

During this time, customers received late or inaccurate bills, followed by poor customer service as the energy supplier failed to keep its customer commitments.

Ofgem, who issued the fine, accused Npower of “failing customers” as customer complaints were mishandled and not recorded correctly which created many unresolved cases. Npower were also blamed for causing distress among affected customers.

The energy provider was also found to have billed customers a year later than needed, with UK law now forbidding companies charging for energy used over a year ago.

Quality Management Controls

Npower was listed as one of the most complained-about energy suppliers in 2014, leading to the company announcing a 60% fall in UK profits.

What is potentially even more concerning is the attached threat that the company could be banned from advertising and encouraging more customers to come aboard.

This could be disastrous in an ultra competitive and price-driven market, if Npower cannot control their quality process and meet new targets concerning customer care.

With errors like these hitting the headlines, more customers expecting top-notch service and more avenues for customers to voice their negative experiences, what can you do to ensure quality in your business?

How can you minimise mistakes and ensure customer service?

An ISO 9001 Quality Management System is designed to support the company in ensuring you meet the needs of your customers, whilst delivering a consistent level of quality and satisfaction.

Why ISO 9001 Certification?

• Certification ensures issues raised are dealt with first time, registering any non-conformances

• Establishes proof that you provide consistent, reliable and fit for purpose solutions

• Improves the customer/supplier relationship by responding proactively to customer feedback

• Certification saves you spending time and money on recurring problems, with many problems being resolved permanently first time round

ISO 9001 certification can be achieved by any business of any size, in any given sector, which is looking to increase and enhance business performance.

ISO Certification is the proof to your stakeholders, customers and staff that you keep your promises.

But ISO Certification is more than just a badge, if you would like assistance to streamline and eradicate errors from your processes, please contact our friendly team at info@isoqsltd.com or alternatively, call 01905 670303.

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, This is Money

ISO Quality Services Ltd are proud to specialise in the implementation and certification of the Internationally recognised ISO and BS EN Management Standards.

Primarily working with clients throughout the whole of the UK and Ireland, ISO Quality Services Ltd also cover Europe and the UAE.

Do you want to get ahead of your competition? Win more tenders or save time and money on reoccurring issues? Contact us today!