Hundreds of Brimbank residents have had their gas, electricity or water turned off or have struggled to pay their bills, new figures from the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV) reveal.
The ombudsman investigates and resolves complaints between Victorian customers and their electricity, gas and water companies.
A total of 1768 complaints and queries from Brimbank residents were lodged during the 2013-14 financial year.
The top five issues plaguing Brimbank residents were imminent or actual energy disconnection or water restrictions (240 cases), the high price of bills (193 cases), debt collection (167 cases), billing errors (158 cases) and back billing (113 cases).
Meanwhile, EWOV’s 2014 annual report found the service dealt with 82,163 complaints from energy and water customers across the state in 2013-14 – up 10 per cent from the previous year.
Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said her officers were helping rising numbers of electricity and water customers to deal with disconnections or restrictions, debt collection or payment difficulties.
“To have 18,065 customers contact us for help with a credit matter is of great concern and a strong indicator of the growing issue of energy and water affordability,” Ms Gebert said.
If re-elected, the Coalition has promised to enforce strong reforms to the energy retail code. Energy and Resources Minister Russell Northe said energy retailers should only be able to back-bill customers as far as six months instead of the current nine-month period.
“The reforms we are committing to will help provide some assurance that retailers can no longer take for granted the current allowable back-billing period,” Mr Northe said.
To make a complaint, call EWOV on 1800 500 509 or visit www.ewov.com.au
