A LEADING energy firm has been told to give free energy to some customers after it failed to resolve their complaints on time.

Industry regulator, Ofgem, said around 1,000 households which had an ombudsman ruling outstanding against npower for more than 28 days would receive free energy until the company fully resolves their issues.

Customers affected could also have any outstanding debt on their accounts written off.

An investigation into npower's "prolonged customer service failings" was opened by Ofgem in June last year and could also lead to fines.

Npower, whose headquarters are at Rainton Bridge, Houghton-le-Spring, said: "For these 1,000 customers, npower will write off any debt on their account and also provide free energy until the ombudsman's rulings have been applied in full. This measure has been agreed with Ofgem and the ombudsman.

"If there are any customers similarly affected after today, July 21, we will review on a case-by-case approach in line with the ombudsman's current policy and also provide free energy where the remedy has not been completed due to our process or system.

"Npower continues to make steps to improve its service, including halving overall complaints and reducing ombudsman complaints by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of this year, but sometimes a delay in finally resolving a complaint can occur, for which we apologise."

Npower previously admitted that a computer glitch caused by a transfer to a new billing system had caused problems with around 700,000 customer accounts.

The problems led npower chief executive Paul Massara to write to all 3.4 million customers apologising for the problems and pledging that no-one would be left out of pocket as a result of billing failures.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which? consumer rights group said: "It's right that npower is compensating their customers after repeatedly failing to improve their complaints handling.

“Basic failures like this are undermining trust in the energy market and suppliers should up their game now to improve service rather than waiting for the outcome of the competition inquiry."

Ofgem senior partner Anthony Pygram added: "We're pleased that we have been able to secure free energy for npower customers waiting longer than 28 days for a resolution to their ombudsman complaint. And we welcome the company's commitment to working with us to put things right.

"We expect npower to implement ombudsman decisions on time. Our intervention has only been necessary because of npower's failure to do this.

"This has led to further frustration for affected customers who have already been waiting some time to have their issue resolved.

"We are continuing our investigation into npower's customer service issues and expect significant improvements from the company to address these."