For the fourth year in a row, the Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria (EWOV) received more complaints about electricity and water being disconnected than any other grievance.
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Statistics from EWOV’s 2017 Annual Report show less reports to the Ombudsman’s office than previous years but also paint a picture of people struggling to keep up with the cost of utilities.
Across the state there were 3411 disconnection cases investigated by the ombudsman in the 2016-17 financial year, a 25 per cent fall on the previous year.
City of Ballarat was home to 96 of those disconnection complaints as well as 51 cases of people reporting payment difficulties when it came to their utility bills.
Billing took out the second spot in the state for number of complaints with 3142 cases referred to the Ombudsman with issues relating to the price of bills and 2181 cases of errors in bills.
In Ballarat alone, 53 cases were handled by the Ombudsman where people were given incorrect or erroneous bills by their utility companies.
Ballarat was the 10th highest Local Government Area for the number of EWOV disconnection/restriction cases in Victoria behind the top three worst in the state; Wodonga, Latrobe and Wangaratta.
The EWOV handled 598 cases from Ballarat in the 2016-17 financial year; and average of 5.97 residential cases per 1,000 people.
Electricity distributor for Western Victoria Powercor were the subject of 325 complaints, fewer than AusNet Services and United Energy Distribution, despite Powercor having a higher market share.
EWOV Cynthia Gebert said the while figures show improvements in utility services, affordability remains an issue for many people in Victoria.
“EWOV is dealing with a high proportion of complex complaints, many of them from customers in vulnerable situations,’’ she said.
“Often, this type of complaint involves very high arrears, which the customer cannot afford to pay. When direct negotiation between customers and companies about payment options isn’t able to deliver an outcome that works for both parties, the complaint ends up at EWOV.”
“As the credit case studies in the report show, investigation of these types of complaints is very challenging and time-consuming — for us and for the company. It can also be very distressing for the customer.’’
