Watchdog to probe energy firm’s sales tactics

It follows information about E.ON’s marketing activities which has “come to the regulator’s attention”, it said.

The investigation will examine whether E.ON is complying with regulations governing face-to-face and telephone sales activities.

Responding to the announcement, E.ON said it believed it had acted in the best interests of consumers at all times and had “robust” controls in place to ensure responsible selling.

E.ON’s director of regulation and energy policy Sara Vaughan said: “We are very disappointed at Ofgem’s announcement of its investigation as we have always sought to ensure we have the best and most stringent controls in place.

“In recent months, our procedures have been improved even further as they have been assessed during our Reset Review. We will now work with Ofgem on their investigation and will seek to demonstrate that we have always acted in the best interests of consumers and have the right safeguards in place to ensure our principles are never compromised.”

Ofgem strengthened suppliers’ obligations to guard against mis-selling in 2009 and 2010 to ensure that any marketing material is fair, accurate, easy to understand and appropriate for the customer.