UK energy suppliers paid out £20m for billing mistakes in five years

New data reveals a huge rise in complaints, especially at British Gas, putting stress on consumers

Britain’s big energy providers have paid more than £20m in compensation to customers for billing mistakes over the past five years, analysis by Guardian Money has found, with British Gas paying out more than a fifth of the total.

We analysed cases handled by the Energy Ombudsman, the service which steps in if a customer and energy company are unable to resolve a complaint within eight weeks of it being made.