Ofwat has launched a new consultation on protecting customers in the non-household retail market through the introduction of a new Customer Protection Code of Practice

The regulator has published a consultation paper setting out its proposed approach to protecting customers in the- nonhousehold retail market in England and Wales, through the introduction of a new Customer Protection Code of Practice.

Introducing the consultation, Ofwat said the Whe Water Act 2014 will allow eligible non-household customers to choose their supplier of water and wastewater retail services from April 2017. For customers who use the supply system of an appointed company whose area is wholly or mainly in England, the market will be extended to include all non-household customers. For those who use the supply system of an appointed company whose area is wholly or mainly in Wales, the market will not be extended, reflecting the different policy position of the Welsh Government.

The new market is expected to deliver about £200 million of overall benefits to customers and the UK economy and research shows that seven out of ten nonhousehold customers want the choice.

Customers will be able to shop around and switch to the best deal, while investors and retailers will have new opportunities for growth, the consultation paper says.

Describing the opening of the new market as a complex challenge, Ofwat said a key element of this would be to ensure that customers are appropriately protected in the retail market.

The consultation paper is part of a suite of consultations focusing on customer protection arrangements that will be necessary to ensure that the new retail market operates effectively and in the best interests of customers.

Consultation questions include comparison data, cooling off periods, timeframes and billing

The consultation paper is inviting stakeholder comment on thirty questions in total which address a wide range of issues, including:

• How Ofwat should define smaller customers - microbusinesses, small businesses and SMEs
• Should the proposed additional protections for smaller customers apply to just microbusinesses, or small businesses, or all SMEs
• Proposals to use the Customer Protection Code of Practice to protect micro-businesses from certain sales and marketing activities
• A proposal to require retailers to provide certain basic information in a standard format to allow micro-businesses to compare deals
• A proposal  to explore the possibility of requiring retailers to only interact with Third Party Intermediaries (TPIs) that have signed up to a set of standards, either through an accreditation scheme or another voluntary code of practice
• Comment on the information that needs to be provided to customers
• A proposal to require retailers to offer a cooling off period of at least seven calendar days to micro-businesses
• Whether a cooling off period should be offered to all eligible non-household customers, and if so, should customers be allowed to opt out of any such cooling off period
• A proposal to require retailers to obtain a copy of written confirmation that a TPI is acting on behalf of a customer, before sharing any details about that customer with the TPI
• Comments on the proposed timeframe of 6 to 20 working days for the supplier switch to take place, with a retailer and customer able to agree a named day for the switch
• A proposal to require retailers to issue at least one accurate bill each year to micro-business customers and, for metered micro-business customers, to take a meter reading at least twice a year
• What information  should be provided to customers on their bills
• A proposal to use the Customer Protection Code of Practice to prevent retailers from back-billing eligible non-household customers unless the customer has behaved inappropriately
• A proposal to take no further action in relation to refunds - other than to make sure that customers have access to a quick and effective dispute resolution process
• A proposal for no additional regulation on data quality

The proposals set out in the consultation are in addition to those in relation to interim supply, deemed contracts, and the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, which the regulator has already published for consultation. Ofwat is also currently consulting on proposals for reviewing non-household retail price controls.

The proposed Customer Protection Code of Practice would apply to all eligible nonhousehold customers in England and Wales. For customers of appointed companies operating wholly or mainly in Wales, this would only be the larger customers using more than 50 million litres (megalitres – Ml) of water each year.

Deadline for responses to the consultation is 11 January 2016 – click here to access the consultation paper.