British Gas customers paid £1.1 million for missed appointments

The firm paid compensation to 12,000 customers, which were mostly business owners, after admitting to regulator Ofgem that it hadn't paid compensation for missed or late appointments dating back to 2013.

As part of Ofgem's guaranteed standards, energy companies must pay £30 per missed or late appointment, and another £30 if this compensation has not been paid within 10 days.

Customers paid £90 compensation for each missed appointment

British Gas says there was a "process error" after some of its third party contractors failed to keep their appointments.

In December 2016 it told Ofgem it had failed to pay the compensation it owed to these customers.

It has now paid customers £30 compensation for the initial appointment, £30 for failing to pay in time and a further £30 as a goodwill gesture.

A spokesperson said: "We discovered the error last year and reported it to Ofgem. We have apologised to the affected customers, given them all compensation and an additional goodwill payment. In April this year we introduced new system checks to ensure this can't happen again."

Martin Crouch, Ofgem senior partner for improving regulation, said: "British Gas did the right thing in coming forward to report this issue, and has since improved its processes to make sure that, when appointments are missed or not kept on time, all customers receive the compensation they're entitled to."

Customers paid £90 compensation per missed appointment

What should I do if I think I'm owed compensation?

The compensation for the missed appointments has now been paid to customers, but if you think you're owed cash you can contact the British Gas customer service team on 0800 048 0202.

The Ofgem guaranteed standards apply to all energy companies so if you think you're owed cash for a missed appointment contact your supplier. You should get:

• £30 for a missed appointment

• £30 for it being late (we're just checking with Ofgem how late the company has to be)

• £30 if the compensation's not paid within 10 days