The energy market is facing increasing scrutiny as calls for regulation grow louder.
Octopus Energy is calling for stricter rules on energy brokers following the UK Government’s announcement to investigate the sector.
Zoisa North-Bond, Chief Executive Officer of Octopus Energy for Business, commented: “We welcome the government’s decision to look into regulations for energy brokers.
“We’ve long campaigned for the need to crack down on rogue brokers to bring transparency and standards into a market that’s been operating as the Wild West.
“Bad broker behaviour has been running rampant for too long. This consultation is a step in the right direction to protecting small businesses – the backbone of our economy – from hidden fees, unsolicited pressure and other shady practices.”
In response to the government’s announcement, Chris Shaw, Chair of the Energy Consultants Association told Energy Live News: “We welcome direct regulation from an independent regulator like the FCA as opposed to back door regulation via Ofgem and other proposed parties.
“We see too many instances of poorly thought out remedies – due to a lack of understanding of how the broker market operates.
“Despite the constant soundboards of poor practice from brokers – the number of actual complaints to ADR remain very low – much lower than most regulated industries.
“Customers typically have high levels of trust in brokers – evidenced by brokers facilitating over half of all energy contracts.
“The government clearly aren’t aware that fee disclosure has been mandatory in Micro since 2022 and shortly mandatory across all non domestic contracts, nor that ADR is already in place – again shortly for a wider cohort of customers.
“We also welcome any opportunity to improve competition and foster innovation. Areas like brokers access to central data flows, reducing fraud and improving switching rates by reducing objections will all flow into lower broker fees to end customers.”
