The industry regulator, Ofgem, has fined British Gas due to ‘basic failures’ found in its procedure for handling customer complaints.

The energy giant British Gas was fined the amount after being found it was not re-opening cases that its clients had indicated were still not resolved.

This comes only shortly after British Gas Business, the commercial-only arm of the firm, was fined £1 million for inaccurately reporting the amount if its energy generated from renewable sources.

No procedure in place

Ofgem said that British Gas had failed to implement a proper procedure for dealing with complaints.

Sarah Harrison at Ofgem said: “Today’s finding highlights basic failures in British Gas’ customer service, particularly in dealing with some of its small business customers,”

“We warned the industry in March that we would be backing up our plans to reform the retail market with a tough approach to enforcement.”