British Gas to be probed by watchdog over account switching fees

British Gas is to be probed by the energy regulator after complaints over termination fees charged to customers who want to move supplier. Ofgem said the investigation will examine whether British Gas breached its licence conditions and follows concerns raised by consumer affairs website Moneysaving Expert that customers were being charged £60 to switch. MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis said: “The rules are very plain; you cannot and should not be charged exit penalties if your switchover takes place within the last 49 days of your energy fix." Licence conditions stipulate that suppliers should not charge termination fees for any change that takes place within the 49 day ‘switching period’ before the expiry of a fixed term contract. “The opening of this investigation does not imply that we have made any findings about non-compliance,” the regulator added. Attempts to encourage more people to switch suppliers to introduce greater competition into the market have had only limited success so far, with the government now being urged to take direct action to reduce tariffs especially for the poorest customers. Prime minister Theresa May has promised to reduce gas bills by £100 for 17mln customers. Earlier this year, British Gas had to pay £9.5 mln to business customers following failings in its registrations, complaints handling and billing processes. British Gas is owned by Centrica PLC (LON:CNA).