Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the one-off charges received by customers of the energy company Iresa; and what steps they will take to protect consumers in similar circumstances in future.

Ofgem, as the responsible regulator, are aware of concerns around the one-off payment requested by Iresa, and are discussing these issues with the company. Under the Direct Debit Guarantee, organisations have to give advance notice of any change to the payment arrangement. If a payment by direct debit has been taken in error, consumers are entitled to a full and immediate refund. Energy suppliers are also obliged to take customers’ ability to pay debt into account when setting up repayment plans.