EWOV Annual Report 2021
EWOVAnnual Report 2021
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 1
EW
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– W
HO
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WH
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EWOV who we are – what we do
2021 Annual Report
AN INDUSTRY-BASED OMBUDSMAN SCHEME , ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) (EWOV) PROVIDES EFFICIENT, EFFEC TIVE , FAIR , AND INDEPENDENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICES TO VIC TORIA' S ENERGY AND WATER CUSTOMERS AND COMPANIES.
Set up in late 1995 as Australia's first electricity
ombudsman scheme, EWOV has since expanded
to include natural gas (1999), water (2001), liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) (2005) and embedded networks
(2018). To 30 June 2021, we had dealt with
735,067 cases.
EWOV uses alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
processes to reach fair and reasonable, and
sustainable, outcomes. In doing this, we take account
of the circumstances of the complaint, good industry
practice and the law. For us to deal with a complaint,
the company must be a member of EWOV Limited,
the property must be in Victoria, and the customer
should have tried at least once to resolve the complaint
themselves by contacting the company directly.
EWOV also plays an important role in helping
prevent complaints. Our reporting of complaint data
and the customer experience of the energy and
water industries enables companies, regulators and
government to make customer service and policy
improvements. By identifying and reporting systemic
issues, we enable action to be taken so that more
customers aren't affected.
EWOV's operation is underpinned by the
EWOV Charter, the EWOV Limited Constitution,
licence conditions for the electricity and gas
industries, the General Exemption Order 2017 for
embedded networks, relevant water legislation, the
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry code and the
Benchmarks for Industry-Based Customer Dispute
Resolution (CDR Benchmarks).
OUR VISION A FAIR AND ACCESSIBLE ENERGY AND WATER M ARKET FOR ALL VIC TORIANS
OUR PURPOSE TO INDEPENDENTLY AND EFFICIENTLY RESOLVE ENERGY AND WATER DISPUTES IN VIC TORIA AND REDUCE THEIR OCCURRENCE
OUR PRINCIPLES ACCESSIBLE , FAIR , INDEPENDENT, EFFICIENT, EFFEC TIVE , ACCOUNTABLE
Cynthia Gebert Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria)
IN THIS YE AR' S REPORT
EWOV – WHO WE ARE – WHAT WE DO 1
2020-21 SNAPSHOTS 2
ABOUT THE BOARD 4
FROM THE OMBUDSMAN 6
OBJECTIVES & STRATEGIC PRIORITIES 9
CASES RECEIVED & WHO LODGED THEM 20
DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESSES & OUTCOMES 22
ISSUES & TRENDS 28
BILLING 30
CREDIT 34
PROVISION 38
SUPPLY 39
LAND 40
MARKETING 42
TRANSFER 43
CUSTOMER SERVICE 44
PRIVACY 45
SOLAR 46
EMBEDDED NETWORK 49
SYSTEMIC ISSUES 50
ELECTRICITY 52
GAS 54
WATER 56
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 58
MORE ON OUR WEBSITE
See www.ewov.com.au for information
on the cases we received in 2020-21 for
individual energy and water companies,
together with data visualisations and detailed
graphical representations.
OUR REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES
This Annual Report is prepared and distributed in
accordance with the Ombudsman's responsibilities
under the EWOV Charter and the Benchmarks
for Industry-Based Customer Dispute Resolution
(CDR Benchmarks).
DATA NOTE
The data in this report covers the year
1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, run at 5 July 2021.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole
number, so may not always add to 100%.
EWOV acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country on which we operate throughout
Victoria and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
EWOV embraces the diversity of our Victorian communities. Every person,
regardless of their race, religion, age, physical attributes or sexual orientation is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. We oppose all forms of discrimination.
2020-21 Snapshots
2 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 3
C A SES BY ISSUE
$1,657,047PROVIDE D FOR CUS TOME RS THROUG H EWOV ’ S DISPUTE RE SOLUTION PRO CE SSE S
624SCHEME PARTICIPANT S UP FROM 516 THE PRE VIOUS YE AR
26SYS TEMIC ISSUE S IDE NTIFIE D AND CLOSE D ALL OF THEM ABOUT E NE RGY
BY C A SE T YPE
1,334ENQUIRIES ↑25%
18,208COMPL AINTS ↓20%
MISSING THE MARK AND VOICES , T WO MAJOR RESE ARCH REPORTS HIGHLIGHTING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
DECEMBER 2020
Missing the Mark
EWOV insights on the impact of the Payment Difficulty
Framework (PDF) – 1 January 2019 to 1 October 2020 MethodologyFrom June 2020 until February 2021 the ANU researchers spoke to 92 householders, businesses and industry experts about their experiences with new energy products and services.
Research methods included semi-structured interviews and technology tours; focus groups; content analysis of a popular online user forum and a secondary analysis of user data.
Victorian Energy and Water Ombudsman’s Investigation of Consumer Experiences (VOICES)
EWOVVOICES Report Summary
In early 2020 the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV) and the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) jointly commissioned social research by the Australian National University’s (ANU) Battery, Storage and Grid Integration Program (BSGIP) to investigate the qualitative consumer experience of new energy products and services in Victoria.
At EWOV, we were motivated to deepen our understanding of the issues customers face with new energy products and services (such as home batteries, electric vehicles, home energy management systems, microgrids and virtual power plants), to prepare for the coming energy system transition and to understand our role in it.
19,542RECEIVED
↓18%
C A SES RECEIVED
2017-1834,524
2016-17 32,002
2018-1931,180
2019-2023,786
2020-2119,542
3DUAL FUEL ↓73%
167OTHER INDUSTRIES ↑27%
11,801ELECTRICIT Y ↓17%
6,046GAS ↓23%
1,525WATER ↓1%
BY INDUS TRY
20
20
-2
1 S
NA
PS
HO
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49% 9,571
4% 706
15% 3,025
4% 694
11% 2,154
3% 669
6% 1,242
1% 154
6% 1,225
1% 102
Credit
Customer Service
Provision
Land
Transfer
Marketing
Supply
Privacy
Billing
General Enquiry
4 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 5
About the Board
GOVERNANCE S TATEMENT
Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) Limited
is a company limited by guarantee and not having
share capital. The objective of the company is
to independently and efficiently resolve disputes
between customers and energy and water
service providers in Victoria, with the further aim
of reducing the occurrence of disputes. To fulfill
this objective, EWOV Limited has set up a dispute
resolution scheme called Energy and Water
Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV) and appointed an
Ombudsman who has authority under the EWOV
Charter to receive, investigate and facilitate the
resolution of complaints. The 'members' of EWOV
Limited, some of which trade under multiple
business names, are the 'scheme participants' of
the EWOV dispute resolution scheme.
The EWOV Limited Board is responsible for the
business affairs and property of the company,
including corporate governance, the setting of
budgets, risk management, strategic planning and
ensuring the Ombudsman's independence.
The day-to-day operation of the EWOV dispute
resolution scheme is the responsibility of the
Ombudsman. The roles of the Board and the
Ombudsman are complementary, with the
Ombudsman attending Board meetings.
From the Chairman
THE 2020-21 YEAR WAS EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT.
IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GATHER IN PERSON
AND SO MUCH HAD TO BE ACHIEVED REMOTELY.
I congratulate the Ombudsman on her strong
and effective leadership, which navigated EWOV
through the uncertainties and helped the team
maintain a first-class dispute resolution service.
There is no denying that COVID-19 has changed
the landscape for us all. The economic and social
impacts of the pandemic are still being revealed,
and EWOV must be prepared to respond to any
increase in complaints. The efforts of industry over
the past 12 months to try new ways of working
with customers are commended, and we hope and
expect to see a continuation of this. In many ways,
it is the efforts of energy and water companies that
will keep the number of complaints down.
Each year, the Board sets several strategic priorities
for the EWOV scheme in the context of its purpose
'to independently and efficiently resolve energy
and water disputes in Victoria and reduce their
occurrence'. Predicated on a balanced approach,
these agreed strategic priorities recognise EWOV's
role in resolving individual complaints, as well as
its role in contributing to industry improvement,
and policy and regulatory dialogue, to reduce the
occurrence of complaints. The Ombudsman has
presented a well-prepared plan and budget that
will guide EWOV through the coming 2021-22 year,
ensuring it maintains its effectiveness and efficiency
and delivers on The EWOV Promise. You will find
more about this important undertaking in the
Ombudsman's summary of the year.
The Board also recognises how important it is that
EWOV is well-placed to deal with industries and
business models that are changing rapidly. This will
demand process, system, and jurisdiction change.
We fully endorse the work the Ombudsman is
doing to ensure that, in the future, EWOV remains
fit for purpose.
We saw some changes within the Board during the
year. In August 2020, water industry director Peter
Quinn was reappointed for a further two years
and, in April 2021, Joanne Pafumi joined us as an
electricity industry director replacing Andrew Davis.
Farewelling Peter Gartlan at year's end, I expressed
the Board's appreciation for his many years of
service conducted in a collegiate, perceptive,
constructively assertive, and articulate manner.
For my part, I was delighted to accept
reappointment as EWOV Limited Chairman for
a further 3-year term.
Thank you to my fellow Directors for their
contributions to open and robust discussions on
important matters. They all bring great knowledge
and experience to the table, and a maturity that
allows meaningful, and not partisan, discussion
of all issues. That is a great accolade to them,
and I thank them for another splendid year.
Paul Sheahan AM Chairman, EWOV Limited
Directors
AB
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Paul Sheahan AM Chairman appointed November 2014
Gerard Brody Consumer Action Law Centre Consumer Director, appointed August 2014
Gavin Dufty St Vincent de Paul Society Consumer Director, appointed August 2013
Jonathan Briskin Origin Energy Industry Director, appointed August 2014
Eugenio (Gino) Fragapane AGL Energy Industry Director, appointed August 2015
Andrew Davis Jemena Industry Director, October 2019 to December 2020
Ronda Held Consumer Director, appointed July 2016
Joanne Pafumi Powercor/CitiPower/United Energy Industry Director appointed April 2021
Peter Quinn Industry Director, appointed August 2018
Peter Gartlan Consumer Director, July 2012 – June 2021
6 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 7
From the Ombudsman
MEETING E X TR AORDINARY TIMES WITH E XCEP TIONAL PERFORM ANCE
Among the positive characteristics that come to mind
when I look back on how EWOV managed the 2020-21
'new normal', resilience shines most brightly.
Personally and organisationally, we rose to the
challenge of coping with the difficulties delivered
by COVID-19, staying on track and springing back in
good shape. We had to meet extraordinary times with
exceptional performance. And we did.
As individuals, we became more flexible in dealing with
many aspects of our lives. We built on and fostered
positive, supportive relationships. We encouraged each
other to reach out for help when we needed to. We
drew on our strengths to continue to bring the highest
possible standards to our work.
As the EWOV team, we pushed forward. The
essentiality of energy and water services meant we
needed to find ways to ensure EWOV's accessibility.
As we reorganised for a hybrid work environment, we
looked for opportunities to put our collective strengths
to good use. We built on the things we learnt through
lockdown, especially how to make use of technology
and digital solutions. We continued to challenge
ourselves about how we do what we do, and what
that should look like going forward. We encouraged
all team members to think about how we could best
balance the needs of individuals with the needs of the
organisation. We maintained our communications
and collaboration with the wide range of stakeholders
who were relying on us to deliver high quality dispute
resolution services.
Yes, the past year was extraordinary. It tested our
resilience, and at times our patience and good humour.
But it also gave us opportunities to take stock, to
think differently, and to challenge how we do things
— setting us up to make our service delivery to the
Victorian community even better.
" We continued to challenge ourselves about how we do what we do, and what that should look like going forward."
" The EWOV Promise is now the framework through which we're looking at everything we do."
COMMIT TING TO AN OVER ARCHING PROMISE
That brings me to The EWOV Promise:
• We will find you.
• We will explain it for you.
• We will work with you.
This three-part promise captures what EWOV's
key stakeholders — energy and water customers,
energy and water companies, regulators,
government, and the community — should rightly
expect when engaging with us. It goes to ensuring
that we're listening, that we're maximising the value
of our case data, and that we're adapting our ways
of working. We're delivering on it by building our
capabilities in five key areas — communications,
information exchange, knowledge, data as a
service, and accessibility.
The EWOV Promise delivers on a recommendation
from the 2020 Independent Review — that EWOV
establish a customer experience model. It's also
helping us deliver on the new strategic priority
the EWOV Limited Board added to our annual
planning in 2019-20. That priority, 'Future scope
and capability', places a clear obligation on us to
think critically about how to ensure EWOV remains
effective and relevant, in the face of a changing
operating environment and shifting expectations
of an ombudsman scheme.
The challenges of the past year led energy and water
companies to rethink their approaches too. We believe
they did a particularly good job of improving their
systems and moving quickly to address the smaller
issues. For the most part, they also demonstrated high
levels of compassion for the difficult circumstances in
which so many of their customers found themselves.
EWOV's credit issues category is about unpaid bills,
payment difficulties, and the action taken by energy
and water companies to collect arrears. In 2020-21,
35% fewer credit cases were lodged with us, and
compared with credit cases four years ago they were
down 63%. The falls were across all industry sectors.
For the companies, the challenge is to work out
how to maintain a more compassionate approach,
and to embed that approach in their business culture
and practices. At the heart of this is making sure
company credit policies and practices go beyond
box-ticking to genuinely deliver improved outcomes
for individual customers.
TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH WITHIN INDUS TRY
Related to this, in December 2020, we published
Missing the Mark, a major piece of research on the
Payment Difficulty Framework (PDF) introduced by
the Essential Services Commission in January 2019.
The research report provides EWOV's insights on
the impact of the PDF — where it's been working
and where (and how) it hasn't. Essentially, we found
that while regulatory requirements around payment
difficulty have undergone a step-change, the culture
of some companies in the retail energy sector hasn't.
Despite disconnection rates dropping dramatically,
too many vulnerable customers are still missing
out on their PDF entitlements. We think it's time
to take another look at the PDF — its design and
implementation, and compliance with it — and this
should include an audit of PDF outcomes for
individual customers. There's more about
Missing the Mark on page 33.
FR
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" For the companies, the challenge is to work out how to maintain a more compassionate approach, and to embed that approach in their business culture and practices."
Summarised below, The EWOV Promise is now the
framework through which we're looking at everything
we do. It's challenging us to examine our approach
to EWOV's role — to ensure that our effort is focused
where it's most valuable and that what we do and how
we do it reflects current stakeholder expectations.
We will find you
• We will make sure we are accessible,
that people are aware of us (discoverable)
and that the service we provide is easy to use.
• We will meet people on their terms with
language they use.
• We will broaden our reach and be there if
someone seeks us out.
We will explain it for you
• We will offer independent advice and guidance.
• We will help all parties understand their rights
and responsibilities.
• We will empower people through our explanations
and help them better understand their situation
and solutions available.
• We will be mindful of how we offer our explanations
and ensure it is in a way that suits our stakeholders.
We will work with you
• We will provide fairness and independence
through all aspects of our work.
• We will be easy to use and tailor our services,
where possible, to meet stakeholder needs.
• We will be known for our efficient and timely
dispute resolution services.
8 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Objectives and strategic priorities
IN 2020-21, THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM FOCUSED
ON SEVEN STRATEGIC PRIORITIES UNDERPINNED BY
OBJECTIVES THAT REFLECT A BALANCED APPROACH
TO EWOV'S ROLE.
OPER ATING MODEL TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT, EFFEC TIVE , FAIR , AND INDEPENDENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION SERVICES TO ENERGY AND WATER CUS TOMERS AND COMPANIES
INDUS TRY REL ATIONSHIPS TO FOS TER EFFEC TIVE , COLL ABOR ATIVE REL ATIONSHIPS AND DRIVE CONTINUED CUS TOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT BY COMPANIES
CUS TOMER AND COMMUNIT Y ENG AG EMENT TO ENSURE THE ACCESSIBILIT Y AND AWARENESS OF EWOV
POLICY AND INFLUENCE TO BE A RESPEC TED PROVIDER OF HIG H QUALIT Y, INDEPENDENT INFORM ATION , ANALYSIS AND ADVICE ABOUT THE CUS TOMER E XPERIENCE OF THE ENERGY AND WATER INDUS TRIES
FUTURE SCOPE AND C APABILIT Y TO ENSURE EWOV REM AINS RELE VANT AND EFFEC TIVE IN A CHANG ING ENVIRONMENT
SYS TEMS AND DATA ANALYSIS TO DELIVER ROBUS T AND C APABLE INFORM ATION TECHNOLOGY AND DATA SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT EWOV ' S GOAL S
HUM AN C APABILIT Y TO FOS TER AN AG ILE , HIG H-PERFORMING WORKFORCE
" Despite the uncertainties presented by COVID-19, our case handling performance remained strong, and we met our accessibility and efficiency goals."
USING WHAT WE ' VE LE ARNT TO MOVE AHE AD
Tough times notwithstanding, it's been an energising
and productive period for EWOV, with the opportunity
for everyone on the team to contribute to delivering on
The EWOV Promise.
Moving ahead, we'll be working equally hard to
make sure that — in the face of changing customer
expectations, new industry business models, and
emerging technologies — we can continue to
deliver EWOV's dispute resolution services in the
comprehensive way that's expected of us.
There will of course be more challenges as we move
from the 'new normal' to the 'next normal', but the
rewards from the effort we're putting into future-
proofing EWOV will be great for those who rely on our
services, and for us too.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to EWOV
throughout the year — in particular the EWOV team,
who responded and adapted to every challenge
thrown their way.
Cynthia Gebert Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria)
PROG RESSING S TR ATEG IC PRIORITIES
Alongside our development of The EWOV Promise,
we worked to deliver on strategic priorities in seven
aspects of EWOV's work — operating model, industry
relationships, customer and community engagement,
policy and influence, future scope and capability,
systems and data analysis, and human capability.
Despite the uncertainties presented by COVID-19, our
case handling performance remained strong, and we
met our accessibility and efficiency goals. Positively,
measures of customer satisfaction and the customer
experience of interacting with us continued to improve.
We explored different ways of engaging with
the energy and water companies, and working
collaboratively to reduce the occurrence
of complaints.
Our work on the dispute resolution front line gave
us unique insights on how customers were coping
in the COVID-19 environment. We shared these
insights on the customer experience, and our
tracking of complaint issues and trends, with
government and regulators through regular data
briefings, and in other forums.
We completed a second major report, VOICES
(Victorian Energy and Water Ombudsman's
Investigation of Consumer Experiences). This report
investigates the consumer experience of new energy
products and services — such as solar, home batteries,
electric vehicles, home energy management
systems, microgrids and virtual power plants.
There's more about VOICES on page 47.
Despite the challenges the year threw up, we finished
2020-21 well positioned to understand and respond to
the needs of all of EWOV's stakeholders. Our progress
against key performance indicators is summarised on
pages 9 to 19.
10 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
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ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 11
Operating model
OUR PERFORM ANCE
We performed strongly against case handling
timeframe measures:
• Accessible and efficient service to customers
contacting us on the 1800 number
> Calls answered in 30 seconds: KPI = 80%.
Result = 87%.
• Timely and sustainable resolution of
straightforward cases
> Stage 1 Investigations closed within 28 days:
KPI = >90%. Result = 92%.
> Stage 1 Investigations not reopened:
KPI = 90%. Result = 99%.
• Effective and efficient Investigations
(Stage 1 and Stage 2+)
> Average days to close: KPI = 46 days.
Result = 46 days.
> Closed within 180 days: KPI = >98%.
Result = 97%.
> Not reopened: KPI = 97%. Result = 99%.
We improved the effectiveness of our early
resolution processes through more use of case
clarification meetings with the companies. We also
trained all of our Conciliators in how to facilitate
two-way conciliation conferences, reducing the
need for us to shuttle information between customers
and companies.
New reporting helped us understand which
companies escalate issues and why they do that.
Through streamlining our 'fair and reasonable
assessment' process, we reduced the number of
aged cases (over 180 days) and cases approaching
that point.
We published new and updated 'good industry
practice' documents to help companies resolve similar
complaints. These also helped our staff assess new
complaints and manage customer expectations
early on.
We published our revised Internal Complaints Handling
Policy and Internal Review Process.
In support of 'We will find you' under The EWOV
Promise, we improved accessibility through:
• reducing the information customers must provide
to get our help
• better Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and
web chat functionality to accommodate
after-hours messages
• incorporating a call back option into our new
website (www.ewov.com.au)
• introducing an easier to use, streamlined web
complaint form
• a follow-up SMS after an Unassisted Referral — to
ensure customers are aware of their right to return
to EWOV and can easily escalate to an Assisted
Referral
• two-way SMS — where customers can update us
on their Assisted Referral and move through to an
Investigation
• a direct phone number for contact by companies.
Supporting 'no wrong door' and seamless referral,
we led work on 'warm referral' where an issue needs
to be handled by another body/office. Customers can
now also give us permission to send their complaint
across to the other body/office directly (and vice versa),
so they don't have to repeat it. This ensures complaints
get to the right place and builds customer trust in
the extended complaints/support network.
We incurred a total cost of $9.4m, which was $1.9m
(17%) below budget.
S TR ATEG IC PRIORITIES Improve ability to identify and respond to fluctuations in case volumes
Embed a continuous improvement culture and approach to all EWOV processes
Strong and effective financial management that balances efficient and fair operations
SUCCESS MEASURES Meet or exceed key performance indicators by 30 June 2021
Meet cost per case outlined in the 2020-21 budget
S TR ATEG IC PRIORITIES Actively seek and act on feedback
Share our knowledge and insights
Collaborate to drive customer service improvements and reduce complaints
SUCCESS MEASURES Sustained levels of satisfaction relative to 2019-20
Ongoing engagement with EWOV's communications relative to 2019-20
OUR PERFORM ANCE
WE MET REGULARLY
WITH COMPANIES ABOUT
CASE HANDLING ISSUES,
PARTICULARLY THE
IMPACT OF COVID-19
ON VOLUMES AND
OPERATIONS. These meetings also provided an opportunity for
the companies to provide feedback about our
performance.
We continued to deliver training online. This included
our existing six-hour training delivered via a series
of two-hour modules, and 'right first time' training
to improve the quality of company responses to
customers and to us. We also tailored some training
to individual companies.
For embedded network entities, we provided tailored
information on the embedded network review process,
explained our processes, and highlighted case
trends related to family violence and fair and
reasonable outcomes.
We introduced EWOV Member News to provide
more timely and relevant information. It's performed
well, with an average open rate of 30% and a 7.3%
click-through rate. Content has included tips on how
to reduce complaints, good industry practice around
the Payment Difficulty Framework, addressing system-
driven complaints and feedback from our community
outreach and engagement.
We refined and standardised the induction process
for new scheme participants.
We made the 'member portal' a one-stop shop for
EWOV data and information — more readable content,
a news feed to keep companies up-to-date, and moves
to improve data presentation for greater usability.
We changed our approach to how we carry out
EWOV's systemic issues function — more actively
identifying trends in our data and engaging on these
with companies and other stakeholders.
In May 2021, we introduced a new systemic issues
report, Detect. The first edition highlighted systemic
issues related to customer access to entitlements
(concessions, grants) and provision of information to
customers about their right to complain to EWOV.
In October 2020, we hosted a vulnerability forum
for energy companies — at which community
representatives presented — to raise awareness of
the barriers customers may face in accessing support.
A follow-up workshop was held in June 2021.
In our annual survey of the companies that are
EWOV scheme participants, we maintained similar
ratings of our performance against the Benchmarks
for Industry-Based Customer Dispute Resolution
(CDR Benchmarks).
Industry relationships
S TR ATEG IC PRIORITIES Improve ability to identify and respond to fluctuations in case volumes
Embed a continuous improvement culture and approach to all EWOV processes
Strong and effective financial management that balances efficient and fair operations
SUCCESS MEASURES Meet or exceed key performance indicators by 30 June 2021
Meet cost per case outlined in the 2020-21 budget
1 2 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 1 3
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Customer and community engagement
OUR PERFORM ANCE
Given COVID-19 restrictions, we adopted a strategic
approach to our outreach and engagement, reaching
over 1,500 people directly. Where possible, we
continued to align outreach and engagement activities
with the key priority areas previously identified
— Wyndham catchment, Gippsland region and
Dandenong/Casey.
A positive outcome of the necessary shift to
online was that we reached even more community
organisations across Victoria — groups in locations
affected by bushfire and COVID-19, those
representing the culturally and linguistically diverse,
financial counsellors, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples.
In addition to five in-person outreach events, we ran
27 information sessions with the Ombudsman —
including ten virtual 'learning at lunch' sessions for
local councils and water companies, taking advantage
of their local community knowledge and networks to
increase awareness of EWOV.
All of this enabled us to gather insights on the energy
and water experiences of a very diverse range of
customers, which we shared with companies,
regulators and government.
As well as running a Community Stakeholder
Roundtable, we continued to look for new ways to
communicate with the Victorian community.
PHOTOS
1 IN MARCH, EWOV PARTNERED WITH 15 AGENCIES TO DELIVER
THE WYNDHAM BRING YOUR BILLS ADVICE DAY AS A LAW
WEEK INTIATIVE.
2 HUME CITY COUNCIL, BRING YOUR BILLS DAY AT
BROADMEADOWS, MARCH 2021.
3 THE FINANCIAL COUNSELLING VICTORIA COVID-19 INDUSTRY
SUMMIT, APRIL 2021. OUR OMBUDSMAN, CYNTHIA GEBERT,
JOINED AN INDUSTRY OMBUDSMAN PANEL ALONGSIDE JUDI
JONES, TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY OMBUDSMAN,
AND DAVID LOCKE, CHIEF OMBUDSMAN AUSTRALIAN
FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Engage with all customer groups, especially vulnerable and disadvantaged customers
Actively seek and act on feedback
Share our knowledge and insights
SUCCESS MEASURES Maintaining positive community agency participation for improved understanding of EWOV's role and process
Sustained high levels of customer satisfaction and positive community agency feedback
We supplemented outreach and engagement activities
with emails and publications specifically for the
community sector. This included a targeted mailout of
over 6,000 posters and flyers to community agencies,
primary and secondary schools, and maternal child
health centres.
Sponsored posts on Facebook helped us reach over
440,000 Facebook users with educational content
on the role of an ombudsman, high bills (linked to
working from home) and concessions. We also ran
geographically targeted posts during crises, such as
the lockdown of housing towers in Melbourne and the
June storms. On average, we beat key benchmarks for
cost per 1,000 impressions and for click-through rate.
We're exploring how to improve our reach on other
platforms, including Twitter and LinkedIn.
In February 2021, we launched the new EWOV website
(www.ewov.com.au) with content that's easier to find
and use. This delivered immediate benefits, especially
around our new online complaint form — it's now
more accessible to a diverse range of potential users,
has a clear progress tracker to help users track where
they are in the complaint form process, is faster to
complete, and we now have the capacity to analyse
the complaint form 'funnel'.
Customer surveying showed that we improved on
most key customer engagement measures:
• satisfaction overall = 80% good or excellent (up 2%)
• satisfaction with Enquiry/Unassisted Referral =
72% (down 3%)
• satisfaction with Assisted Referral = 82% (up 2%)
• satisfaction with Investigation = 76% (up 2%)
• net promotor score = 58 (up from 51)
• effort required by customer (less or as expected) =
75% (up 2%)
• assistance tailored to the needs of the customer
(met expectations) = 80% (up 3%)
• staff performance (positive rating for listening,
helpfulness, understanding, independence) =
91% (up 2%).
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Policy and influence
Future scope and capability
OUR PERFORM ANCE
We kept government, regulators and policy makers
informed — to maximise the effectiveness of our
casework, reduce the occurrence of complaints,
and influence the policy environment for energy
and water dispute resolution.
We published weekly briefings for the Minister
for Energy, Environment and Solar Homes, the
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning,
the Australian Energy Regulator, the Essential Services
Commission, the Department of Families, Fairness and
Housing, and Consumer Affairs Victoria to ensure that
our complaint handling experience, data and stories
were considered in policy decisions.
We contributed to the Essential Services Commission's
industry and consumer roundtables about the impact
of COVID-19.
We met regularly with Consumer Affairs Victoria and
the Department of Environment, Land, Water and
Planning on operational and policy issues — helping
to develop adequate consumer dispute resolution
options for customers purchasing non-traditional
energy products and services.
We took opportunities to discuss appropriate
future consumer protections with the Department
of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
(VOICES research report co-funder), Solar Victoria,
Australian National University, and the Essential
Services Commission.
We published 'Missing the Mark ' — a detailed analysis
of the Payment Difficulty Framework (PDF) based
on case studies — to shed light on the practical
customer experience of the PDF, ahead of its review
by the Essential Services Commission.
We made six formal submissions to the consultation
processes of the Essential Services Commission,
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,
Department of Environment, Land, Water and
Planning, and on National Consumer Credit Reform
as related to energy.
We collaborated with Energy & Water Ombudsman South
Australia, Energy & Water Ombudsman Queensland and
Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW on two submissions
to consultations run by the Australian Energy Market
Commission and the Energy Security Board.
We provided seven tailored responses to data requests
from regulators, government departments, customer
advocacy groups and the media.
We reviewed EWOV's stakeholder publications for
purpose, effectiveness and audience — making
changes to publication schedules to avoid crossover of
content and to put the right amount of content out at
the right time (based on statistics of readership/use).
We introduced Reflect, a quarterly publication
that replaced the public and industry versions of
Res Online. In line with its title, Reflect looks back
at the past quarter — through data visualisations,
analysis of case issues and trends, case studies,
updates on systemic issues, summaries of recent
public submissions, and updates on our outreach
activities. It also directs readers to the EWOV Data
Hub —the ‘always on' data area on our website.
Reflect emails performed well, with an average
open rate of 30% and an 8% click-through rate.
We introduced EWOV News, an email newsletter giving
short news and updates to around 1,500 subscribers
(government, regulators, community organisations and
media contacts). EWOV News complements Reflect —
but differs in that all the content is inside the email and
it is present-focused, rather than backwards-looking.
EWOV News has performed well, with an average open
rate of 26% and a 4.3% average click-through rate.
OUR PERFORM ANCE
We continued to engage on the practicalities of a
solar retail jurisdiction for EWOV — and share our
out-of-jurisdiction solar data with key stakeholders and
in our publications. Our goal continued to be to inform
a staged approach to expanding EWOV's jurisdiction
in the face of an emerging consumer protection gap.
This built on two other major pieces of work. The
first was the 'What will energy consumers expect of
an energy and water ombudsman in 2020, 2025 and
2030?' research report commissioned by the Australia
& New Zealand Energy and Water Ombudsman
Network (ANZEWON) in 2019-20. The second was
EWOV's own research report 'Charging Ahead – New
energy technology and future of energy complaints in
Victoria', released in June 2020, in which we started to
map out the types of complaints we may receive for
new and emerging energy technologies.
Our recent VOICES report presented the results of
extensive research with households, businesses and
industry experts on their attitudes to, expectations
of, concerns about, and experiences of new energy
products and services. We commissioned this research
jointly with the Victorian Department of Environment,
Land, Water and Planning. It was conducted by the
Australian National University's Battery Storage Grid
and Integration Program. Important to EWOV's role
going forward, it shows that complaints about new
energy products and services will cover a wide range
of issues:
• the quality of technology and providers (and the
relationship to warranties)
• the complexity of technology, business models and
the grid connection process
• the quality and accessibility of information
• relationships between consumers and different
business types (outside of typical energy providers)
• geographic location (regional areas often receive
limited or poor service options)
• unfair sales practices
• cultural challenges (householder values and
aspirations vs industry assumptions)
• conservatism, risk aversion and communication
failures (largely around product offerings).
We worked closely with our counterparts in
ANZEWON to develop consistency in the principles
that should guide expanded jurisdictions. Strong
progress was made on a nationally consistent
approach to issues related to embedded networks.
We collaborated within ANZEWON on submissions
to regulatory processes to ensure a clear, consistent
voice was brought to issues, such as billing and
energy security.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Share our knowledge and experience
Foster strong relationships with regulators and policy makers
Broadly scan the external environment for influences on EWOV and identify strategic responses
SUCCESS MEASURES Stakeholders value EWOV information
and contributions to policy issues
Ongoing and sustained engagement with EWOV's publications and positive community agency feedback
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Proactively influence the dispute resolution
environment in a changing energy and water market
Work with key stakeholders to create a robust consumer protection framework
Develop an organisation with ready-to-adapt governance, funding, operating model
SUCCESS MEASURES EWOV has the information required to
make decisions about its role in 5-10 years
EWOV has the capability to meet its purpose
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16 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
Systems and data analysis
OUR PERFORM ANCE
WE ENSURED
EWOV'S SYSTEM
SECURITY THROUGH A
COMPREHENSIVE SUITE
OF MONITORING
TOOLS, SUPPORTED BY
ROBUST PROCESSES
INCLUDING MULTI-FACTOR
AUTHENTICATION.
We maintained a minimum 99.5% functioning of key
business systems during our operating hours.
We developed a data governance framework that
details how our data is captured, stored, archived,
transformed, and classified.
Improvements to our complaint and content
management systems increased our case handling
efficiency, and improved engagement with companies
via the 'member portal'.
We developed a cloud migration strategy to ensure
we're able to respond to an environment where
software providers are more likely to invest in new
features/upgrades/updates for their cloud-based
solutions only, and sunset on-site applications.
We're implementing the necessary infrastructure-
related precursors.
We continued to expand our predictive analytics and
modelling to support the efficiency and effectiveness
of our systems and operations, by:
• extending the capability of Python as an Extract
Transfer Load (ETL) tool — starting with the
integration of data from a third-party speech
analytics service into our on-premises database
environment — enabling a quicker turnaround in
data analysis and opportunity to add another layer
of information to existing case data
• using topic modelling to generate key themes in
any unstructured text data across our database and
systems — providing the ability to uncover outliers
that might have been lost in text data, while also
focusing in on disparate querying
• using the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated
Moving Average (SARIMA) forecast methodology —
a moving average calculation of historical data that
takes seasonality into consideration, allows trends
to be included in the calculation, and is able to be
fine-tuned on the period of historic data which has
most impact on the predictions
• building two machine-learning models to help
us project weekly caseloads — by predicting the
likelihood of an Assisted Referral progressing to an
Investigation and the time lapse between those
two stages
• automation of legacy processes as a prerequisite
to expanding our data and analytics capabilities —
including completion of a full assessment of all of
the remaining manual processes.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Robust and capable information and communications technology
SUCCESS MEASURES Key business systems are functioning 99.5% of the time during EWOV's operating hours
Timely and effective analysis of complaint trends
1 8 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 19
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Human capability
ORG ANISATIONAL S TRUC TURE
OUR PERFORM ANCE
WE HAD AN 86%
PARTICIPATION RATE
IN OUR ANNUAL STAFF
ENGAGEMENT SURVEY,
BUT A DROP IN OUR
ENGAGEMENT RESULTS
FROM 81% IN 2020 TO
66% IN 2021.
This engagement deterioration wasn't evident in our
pulse survey results and, in part, is likely to reflect the
effect of the extended lockdown on overall wellbeing.
Our pulse surveys, undertaken regularly throughout
the year, provided useful data about how staff were
responding to the changing ways of working — for
example, we saw an immediate lift in the sense of
connection and collaboration once we moved to a
hybrid work environment.
On this basis, we moved to 'in the moment' frequent,
short pulse checks, which allow for quick, relevant
responses from managers to trends throughout
the year.
Our wellbeing program was largely delivered virtually.
It was released quarterly with the flexibility to shift
and adapt. Positively, 87% of staff who responded
to our pulse survey felt supported with access to
wellbeing information, and 70% felt EWOV provided
clear communication about their wellbeing options.
We closely monitored connection to colleagues as an
indicator of wellbeing. Our return to office plan was
guided by wellbeing considerations, and we saw a
16% lift once staff came back.
Our leadership development program was a finalist in
the Australian HR Awards 2021. We supplemented it
with coaching, designed to help leaders put theory into
practice. We also offered a formal workplace coaching
certification for all participants. Following the program,
four staff were promoted, or took on additional
responsibilities within their roles. Seven staff pursued
external coaching accreditation, an important step to
embedding a coaching culture at EWOV. We also used
Gallup's Clifton Strengths questionnaires across the
office, identifying the top five strengths for all staff and
providing a foundation for ongoing strengths-based
coaching and development.
Our capability program focused on developing
skills in critical thinking, continuous improvement,
communication and negotiation. Thematic reviews
and case audits identified individual and organisational
capability needs that we also built into the program.
We developed EVOLVE, a program for staff who
have shown excellence in their role and an interest
in shaping the future of EWOV. EVOLVE provides
participants with an opportunity to grow professionally
through mentoring by the Senior Leadership Team.
Remote working for much of the year meant that
our staff intranet became an increasingly important
internal communications tool. We developed a
regular cycle of content to connect people and share
information. This was revised and refreshed once
hybrid work arrangements commenced. Improved
inter-team collaboration on content has supported
ongoing readership.
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES Our people – their safety, development
and processes
Strong governance processes
SUCCESS MEASURES Sustained staff engagement survey results
Sustained employee performance
OMBUDSMAN
HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY,
ANALYTICS AND BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT
FINANCE MANAGER/COMPANY
SECRETARY
HEAD OF PEOPLE AND
CULTURE
Insights and Improvement
Manager
Service Desk Officer
Systems Administrator
Systemic Issues and
Policy Specialist
Digital Communications
Officer
Accountant
Finance Officer
Member Liaison Officer
Strategic Communications
Officer
Capability Manager
People and Culture
Advisor
Capability Advisors
HEAD OF OPERATIONS AND
EXPERIENCE
Service Officers
Team Managers
Team Leads
Conciliators
WDP Conciliator
Senior Admin Support
Officer
EA/Admin and Facilities Coordinator
Admin Support Officer
Technical Specialist
Senior Policy and Stakeholder
Engagement Officer
IT Infrastructure and Security
Manager
Design and Communications
Officer
Senior Community
Outreach and Engagement
Officer
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS
AND POLICY
Principal Investigator
Analytics Manager
Data Scientist
20 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 21
Cases received and who lodged them
19,542 TOTAL CASES 18% FROM 2019-20
ELECTRICITY
60%
GAS
31%
WATER
8%
<1% dual fuel
<1% other industries
Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always total to 100%.
337(2%) OF RE SIDE NTIAL CUS TOME RS IDE NTIFIE D A S ABORIG INAL OR TORRE S S TR AIT ISL ANDE R CUS TOME RS
HOUSEHOLD
32% 5,554
25% 4,336
22% 3,906
18% 3,166
4% 634
2-person households
1-person households
Didn’t disclose
Residence unoccupied
3-person or larger households
72%
METROPOLITAN MELBOURNE
C A SES LOC ATION
22%
REGIONAL / RUR AL VICTORIA
7% of customers didn't give us their address or were from outside Victoria. 84% 4,501 tenants said they were
private rental
16% 869 tenants said they were Office of Housing rental
OWNING VS RENTING
9,601
55%
Homeowners
5,370
31%
Tenants
Note: 52% (9,114) didn’t hold a concession card and 10% (1,833) didn’t disclose.
CONCESSIONS
11% 1,966
9% 1,540
6% 1,100
2% 348
4% 620
<1% 50
4%
2% 395
630
Disability Pension
Job Seeker
Carer Payment
Low Income Support
Youth Allowance
Parenting Payment
Other
Age Pension
THE CUS TOMERS
CUSTOMER TYPE HOW THEY CONTACTED US
90% Residential (17,596)
10% Business (1,873)
<1% Government/
Not-for-profit (73)
59% Phone
28% Online form
7% Email
6% Webchat
6,649(38%) OF RE SIDE NTIAL CUS TOME RS IDE NTIFIE D A S CONCE SSION C ARD HOLDE RS
22 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 23
DIS
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Assisted Referral WHAT HAPPENS AT A SSIS TED REFERR AL?
Where a customer has contacted the company at
least once and the complaint remains unresolved,
we register the complaint as an Assisted Referral. We
arrange for a designated higher-level person within
the company to contact the customer. We make this
referral after providing the customer with information
about their rights and responsibilities. We tell them
they can return to EWOV if the Assisted Referral doesn't
resolve the complaint for them. We send them a
reminder SMS at the four-week mark, asking them to
contact us if the complaint isn't resolved.
The company has three business days to contact
the customer. It has a total of 15 business days to
resolve the complaint. These timeframes are for the
company to investigate the complaint and undertake
any necessary actions. An Assisted Referral is deemed
to have failed if a customer comes back to EWOV —
due to no contact by the company, contact outside the
required timeframes, or following a final offer or offer
of resolution.
COMPL AINT S WE REG IS TERED AND CLOSED AT A SSIS TED REFERR AL
In 2020-21, 12,390 complaints were registered at
Assisted Referral:
Dispute resolution processes and outcomesOUR AIM IS TO HANDLE COMPL AINTS EFFICIENTLY, EFFEC TIVELY, FAIRLY, AND INDEPENDENTLY.
Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always add to 100%.
Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always add to 100%.
We finalised 10,128 complaints at this level, when the
customer's complaint was resolved by the company,
or the customer didn't return to us.
Where the customer returned to EWOV still
dissatisfied with how the company responded to
their complaint, we opened an Investigation.
18% of Assisted Referrals progressed to Investigation,
with 30 days the average time between the Assisted
Referral and the Investigation.
7,333
Electricity
4,146
909
2
Gas
Water
Dual Fuel
EnquiryWHAT IS AN ENQUIRY ?
An enquiry is a request of us for general information.
Where we can, we provide the information ourselves.
Where we can't, we provide the customer with contact
information for the most appropriate other office.
HOW WE RESPONDED TO ENQUIRIES
We referred 534 enquiries (40%) to a regulator –
many of these enquiries were solar enquiries referred
to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
We gave 166 customers (13%) information and
referred to their energy or water company.
We referred 165 customers (12%) to
another ombudsman.
We helped 290 people (22%) with general information.
We referred 21 people (2%) to government or a
member of parliament.
We referred 92 people (7%) to another body.
In 56 cases (4%) there was insufficient information
to progress the enquiry.
ENQUIRIES EWOV REG IS TERED IN 2020 -21 ( 1,334)
Electricity67%
Gas12%
Other industry13%
Water8%
Enquiries7%
Assisted Referrals63%
Investigations17%
Unassisted Referrals13%
How we approach dispute resolutionWe actively work with customers and companies
to reach a fair and reasonable outcome as quickly
as possible. We look to uncover the facts to help
the customer and their company better understand
the issues, and each other's point of view. We work
towards agreement on a resolution and what needs to
be done to achieve it. This outcome may be achieved
directly between the customer and the company,
or it may be conciliated by us.
The term case covers all customer contacts
with EWOV — registered as either an 'enquiry' or
a 'complaint'.
• An enquiry is a request for information.
• A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction
about a policy, a practice, or the customer service
performance of an energy or water company or an
embedded network entity that's an EWOV scheme
participant — where a response or resolution is
explicitly or implicitly expected.
When a customer contacts us, we consider:
• whether we have jurisdiction under the
EWOV Charter to deal with the issue
• whether the contact is an enquiry or a complaint
• how many times the customer has contacted
the company, how they did that, and with whom
they spoke.
C A SES BY S TAG ES IN 2020 -21 ( 19,542)
Unassisted Referral WHAT HAPPENS AT UNA SSIS TED REFERR AL?
Before EWOV can register a complaint, the customer
must have given the company the opportunity
to address the problem. We generally refer these
customers back to the company's call centre.
Some customers also contact us seeking information
to help them decide whether and how to progress
a complaint.
COMPL AINT S WE REG IS TERED AND CLOSED AT UNA SSIS TED REFERR AL
In 2020-21, 2,569 complaints were registered at
Unassisted Referral:
1,598
678
Electricity
293
Gas
Water
2,517 complaints were closed at Unassisted Referral:
53% Customers referred to the company's call centre
24% Customers provided with general information
16% Complaints closed due to insufficient information to take it further
7% Customers referred to a regulator
<1% Withdrawn by the customer
Unassisted Referral WHAT HAPPENS AT UNA SSIS TED REFERR AL?
Before EWOV can register a complaint, the customer
must have given the company the opportunity
to address the problem. We generally refer these
customers back to the company's call centre.
Some customers also contact us seeking information
to help them decide whether and how to progress
a complaint.
COMPL AINT S WE REG IS TERED AND CLOSED AT UNA SSIS TED REFERR AL
In 2020-21, 2,569 complaints were registered at
Unassisted Referral:
INV
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TIG
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24 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 2 5
InvestigationS TAG E 1 INVES TIG ATIONS
A Stage 1 Investigation is one that we think can be
resolved within 28 business days and two responses,
because it doesn't require detailed information, action
or analysis by us, the company or the customer.
To provide faster information flows, we may gather
a company's Stage 1 complaints into a 'batch' and
schedule a meeting to go through each complaint.
If the complaint isn't resolved promptly, or if the
complaint needs to be tested against our fair and
reasonable framework, it's upgraded.
We closed 1,261 Investigations at Stage 1:
• 1,199 (95%) conciliated
• 44 (3%) procedural closure –
customer disengaged from our process
• 9 (1%) withdrawn by the customer
• 5 (<1%) found to be better dealt with by another body
• 3 (<1%) found to be out of jurisdiction
• 1 (<1%) fair and reasonable assessment –
fair offer made to the customer.
S TAG E 2 INVES TIG ATIONS
A Stage 2 Investigation requires more detailed
information, action or analysis by us, the company,
or the customer. The company has 10 business
days to provide us with a response, which we review
and discuss with the customer. We then work with
the customer and the company to reach a 'fair and
reasonable' outcome for both parties.
We upgraded 87 Investigations to Stage 2:
• 52 electricity Investigations
• 27 gas Investigations
• 8 water Investigations.
We closed 1,747 Investigations at Stage 2:
• 1,374 (79%) conciliated
• 295 (17%) procedural closure –
customer disengaged from our process
• 24 (1%) withdrawn by the customer
• 23 (1%) found to be out of jurisdiction
• 26 (1%) fair and reasonable assessment –
fair offer made to the customer
• 5 (<1%) found to be better dealt with by another body.
INVESTIGATION STAGES AND UPGRADES
An Investigation may resolve at Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage
3 or Final Stage depending on its complexity and
whether the matter has been upgraded in line with
EWOV's Complaint Upgrade Policy.
EWOV upgrades complaints to help ensure that
companies provide timely, accurate and appropriate
responses to assist resolution. Other reasons for
upgrades include a company suggestion for resolution
that's inappropriate or inadequate; and where the
company (or a relevant third party) disconnects or
restricts supply, pursues debt collection activity, or
contacts the customer about the issue during the
Investigation. An EWOV Team Manager or the Head
of Operations and Experience may also exercise their
discretion to upgrade a complaint. Complaint upgrades
incur additional costs for companies.
BINDING DECISION
Sometimes a complaint goes through EWOV's
Investigation process without resolution. At this point,
the Ombudsman may decide to close the complaint if
it's assessed that further investigation isn't warranted.
Or the Ombudsman may make a Binding Decision.
A Binding Decision is binding on the company if the
customer accepts it. It's not binding on the customer,
who can choose to pursue the complaint in another
forum, such as a court.
OPENING AN INVES TIG ATION
Where a customer returns to EWOV because an
Assisted Referral to a higher-level contact hasn't
resolved their complaint for them, we review the
complaint again for jurisdiction before we open an
Investigation. Sometimes we bypass Assisted Referral
and move directly to Investigation. We do this where
we assess a complaint as being complex and unlikely
to be resolved by referral; where the customer's
circumstances reflect EWOV's Vulnerable and
Disadvantaged Customer Policy and Procedure;
and/or where an energy or water company
requests an Investigation.
In 2020-21, we opened 3,249 Investigations:
Electricity1,971
Gas1,064
Dual fuel1
Water213
S TAG E 3 INVES TIG ATIONS
We upgraded 283 Investigations to Stage 3:
• 181 electricity Investigations
• 77 gas Investigations
• 24 water Investigations
• 1 dual fuel Investigation.
We closed 241 Investigations at Stage 3:
• 169 (70%) conciliated
• 48 (20%) procedural closure – customer
disengaged from our process
• 3 (1%) found to be out of jurisdiction
• 18 (7%) fair and reasonable assessment –
fair offer made to the customer
• 2 (1%) withdrawn by customer
• 1 (<1%) found to be better dealt
with by another body.
FINAL S TAG E INVES TIG ATIONS
Once a complaint is upgraded to Final Stage,
we begin the Binding Decision process. We aim to
finalise a complaint at Final Stage within 90 days —
by negotiating an outcome, closing the complaint
on the basis that a fair and reasonable offer has been
made by the company, or referring the matter to
the Ombudsman for a Decision.
We upgraded 67 Investigations to Final Stage:
• 45 electricity Investigations
• 13 gas Investigations
• 9 water Investigations.
We closed 67 Investigations at Final Stage:
• 47 (70%) conciliated
• 10 (15%) procedural closure –
customer disengaged from our process
• 5 (7%) found to be out of jurisdiction
• 3 (4%) fair and reasonable assessment –
fair offer made to the customer
• 2 (3%) found to be better dealt with by
another body.
SET TING E XPEC TATIONS
At the start of an Investigation, our Conciliators explain
what EWOV can and can't do, and make the customer
aware of our 'fair and reasonable' expectations.
$1,657,047 was provided by companies to customers as a result of EWOV Investigations.
MONETARY OUTCOMES FROM EWOV INVES TIG ATIONS
From EWOV Investigations, $1,657,047 was provided
by companies to customers:
OTHER OUTCOMES FROM EWOV INVES TIG ATIONS
1,125 written apologies were provided to customers.
We finalised 159 Wrongful Disconnection Payment
(WDP) assessments. From these, 62 payments were
made, ranging from $13 to $23,534.
Billing adjustments
$583,125
$9,451
$609,124
$428,227
$27,120
Recognition of customer service issues
Debt reductions/waivers
Guaranteed service level payments
Waived fees
26 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 27
Investigation timeframes
BY S TAG ES
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
<1 1-2 2-3 3-6 6-9 9-12 12+MONTHS
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Final Stage Total
BY INDUS TRY
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
<1 1-2 2-3 3-6 6-9 9-12 12+MONTHS
Electricity Gas Water Dual Fuel Total
28 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 2 9
ISS
UE
S&
TR
EN
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Issues & trends
EWOV USES TEN HIG H-LE VEL C ATEGORIES TO G ROUP COMPL AINT ISSUES
The ten issues categories we use are briefly described below. Our reporting is on the basis of 'one case – one
issue', that being the main issue the customer raises when they contact us. Having listened to a complaint, we may
register other issues too. For example, a customer complains about a high bill, which has led them to have payment
difficulties. We may also re-categorise the initial main issue, as more information comes to light through the dispute
resolution process about the actual nature of the complaint.
TOP 5 LIS T S FOR 2020 -21
OVERALL
• Billing: high
• Billing: error
• Provision: existing connection
• Credit: debt collection/credit default listing
• Credit: payment difficulties
ELECTRICITY
• Billing: high
• Billing: error
• Provision: existing connection
• Billing: tariff
• Credit: debt collection/credit default listing
GAS
• Billing: high
• Billing: error
• Credit: payment difficulties
• Credit: debt collection/credit default listing
• Billing: Estimation
WATER
• Billing: high
• Billing: fees & charges
• Land: property damage
• Land: network assets
• Billing: error
Billing
Generating bills, sending bills, payment processes
Credit
Unpaid bills and the action taken by energy and
water companies to collect arrears
Customer service
The level of service received or not received
Land
How company activities or network assets affect
a customer's property
Marketing How electricity and gas retailers go about gaining
new customers
Privacy How a customer's personal information is
handled
Provision Connection of a property to an energy or water
network
Supply
Physical delivery of the electricity, gas or water
service
Transfer
Switching an electricity or gas account to another
energy retailer
General enquiry
Cases that don't fit under another category TR ACKING COMMON SUB-ISSUES OVER ALL OVER 5 YE ARS
5K
4K
3K
2K
1K
0
High bill Billing error Debt collection/credit default listing Billing: tariff Energy disconnection/water restriction
FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
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BILLING GENERATING BILLS, SENDING BILLS, PAYMENT PROCESSES
COMMON SUB-ISSUES HIGH, ERROR, TARIFF, ESTIMATION
CASE STUDY High bills tracked back to gas leak RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | PAYMENT DIFFICULTIES | NO COMMUNICATION OF SUSPECTED LEAK
An elderly pensioner who lived alone, Lee
owed just over $10,000 for gas. In early 2020,
concerned about high bills, Lee engaged a
plumber to check the gas line and meter at their
property. The plumber found that tree branches
had caused a major leak in the fitting line. The
leak was repaired, and Lee's gas ducted heater
was cleaned and serviced. Lee wanted the gas
retailer to cover the cost of the plumber. The
retailer rejected the claim.
At Assisted Referral, the retailer offered to
reduce Lee's arrears by just over $2,000 to
$8,000. Lee wasn't satisfied that the retailer had
investigated the high billing properly. Saying
$8,000 was still unaffordable, Lee sought a
$6,000 arrears reduction and an independent
assessment by EWOV.
We opened an Investigation. Following checks
with both the local gas distributor and gas
retailer, we found that Lee's bills were correct
based on meter data, but were high due to
a leak. The leak was on Lee's side. We also
found that the local distributor had alerted
Lee's retailer to higher than usual gas use at the
property in early 2019, but the retailer hadn't
acted on that advice to tell Lee something may
be wrong.
On billing to late December 2020, Lee owed
$10,058.18 for gas. The retailer offered a credit
of $3,582.60. This was the difference between
Lee's 2019 billing and 2020 billing, after the leak
was repaired. This left Lee owing $6,475.58.
Lee and the retailer agreed on a payment
arrangement for the arrears, in line with the
requirements in the Energy Retail Code.
This included:
• referral of Lee to the retailer's hardship team
• a six-month hold on the arrears
• an affordable payment plan
• advice about entitlements under the
Payment Difficulty Framework
• information about available government
assistance, e.g. a Utility Relief Grant
and concessions
• practical assistance to lower the
home's gas costs
• ongoing support and updates.
Lee would need to be contactable, participate
in the hardship program, and make the agreed
payments by the due dates. The complaint
was closed. 2020/14995
9,571BILLING CASES ↓15%
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
5 YE AR HIS TORY
9,571
13,163 13,342 13,699
11 ,255
TOP SUB-ISSUES
2,303
1,820
936
1,096
710
Error
Concession
Tariff
Backbill
High
TRENDS IN BILLING C A SES
EWOV received 9,571 billing cases in 2020-21:
• 57% electricity – most commonly about high bills,
billing errors, tariffs
• 35% gas – most commonly about high bills,
billing errors, estimation
• 8% water – most commonly about high bills,
fees & charges, billing errors.
Against 2019-20, billing cases were down 15%
(and down 27% from four years ago):
• Electricity billing cases were down 16%
• Gas billing cases were down 17%
• Water billing cases were up 3%.
We identified 13 billing issues as systemic.
Some of them are listed below:
• Customers not informed about a network
tariff change SI/2020/2
• Customers wrongly informed meter readings
would be estimated SI/2020/26
• Dashboard overestimating predicted bills SI/2020/36
• Appliance usage information incorrect SI/2020/45
• Refund rejections and delays SI/2021/9
For more information on systemic issues
see pages 50 and 51.
Billing
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 33
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Assessing the effectiveness of the Payment Difficulty Framework, two years on
MISSING THE M ARK: AN EWOV RESE ARCH REPORT
We've been monitoring the effectiveness of the
PDF through EWOV cases since it was introduced.
In December 2020 — in anticipation of the
Essential Services Commission's review of the PDF,
scheduled for early 2021 — we analysed a sample
of 90 PDF-relevant EWOV cases. From this analysis,
we published our assessment of the effectiveness
of the PDF in a report called Missing the Mark. We
concluded that — despite the regulatory changes to
the requirements around payment difficulty — too
many vulnerable customers were still missing out
on PDF entitlements.
We recommended that consideration be given to:
• improving the communication of PDF
entitlements through more direct and personal
means such as SMS or phone calls — rather than
through generic and multi-purpose notices,
such as bills and reminder notices
• improving the PDF training of all staff — to avoid
that knowledge becoming 'siloed' within retailer
hardship teams
• appointing dedicated staff to provide culturally
safe assistance to customers from cultural
groups that are currently poorly served by
the PDF — e.g. customers who identify as an
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person
• whether the entitlement to tailored assistance
for customers who can afford their ongoing
usage (i.e. TA1) is currently too broad —
and whether the PDF would be more effective
for those in genuine payment difficulty if it
was narrowed
• further policy measures for those who can't
afford their energy even after PDF entitlements
have been fully and properly applied — a small,
but important cohort of customers
• clarifying that while debt waivers are positive,
they shouldn't be applied in lieu of PDF
entitlements — only in addition to them.
TR ACKING BILLING AND CREDIT C A SES FOR PDF-REL ATED ISSUES
Analysing cases where customers were eligible for
assistance under the PDF, we found some issues
came up commonly — the billing issues of high
bills, concessions and backbilling, and the credit
issues of payment difficulties, disconnection,
and debt collection/credit default listing.
PDF-related billing issues by industry:
• In 39% of EWOV's 5,481 electricity billing cases,
the main issue was one of the top three PDF-
related billing issues — 1,158 cases about
high bills, 570 cases about the application
of concessions to bills, and 396 cases about
backbilling.
• In 44% of EWOV's 3,319 gas billing cases, the
main issue was one of the top three PDF-related
billing issues — 831 cases about high bills,
337 cases about the application of concessions
to bills, and 276 cases about backbilling.
PDF-related credit issues by industry:
• Of EWOV's 1,832 electricity credit cases,
761 were about debt collection/credit default
listing, 662 about payment difficulties,
409 about disconnections.
• Of EWOV's 1,070 gas credit cases,
416 were about payment difficulties,
394 about debt collection/credit default
listing, 252 about disconnection.
In late 2020, we reviewed and simplified our PDF
data collection processes — for better tracking of
the entitlements customers have been given by
their retailers at the time they come to EWOV, and
then what we do through our dispute resolution
processes to address entitlements shortfalls.
This will inform our future reporting on PDF-related
cases and issues.
The Payment Difficulty Framework (PDF) was introduced in Victoria in January 2019 through Part 3 of the
Energy Retail Code – Assistance for residential customers facing payment difficulties. It requires energy retailers
to take a more proactive and tailored approach to customers struggling to meet their energy costs. An entitlements-
based framework, the PDF protects customers by enshrining their rights to certain kinds of assistance —
and creating a regulatory breach if those rights aren't provided by the retailer.
CASE STUDY High bills found to be linked to actual usage RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | METER CONFUSION | COVID-19 PREVENTED SITE VISIT
Max had lived at the 80-year-old property for
14 years and knew it had two meters, but said
only one of the meters worked. Max told us
the home's electricity usage was high, and that
they had tried unsuccessfully to address this
to reduce their bills. When, in early 2020, the
second meter started working, Max queried
this with the electricity retailer. Max said the
retailer agreed to send its own electrician (at
its cost) to check the second meter. It told
Max the billing for the home would be on hold
until this was done. In August 2020, the retailer
sent Max an email confirming that the account
was still on hold. In December 2020, a retailer
representative came to the home, but couldn't
enter due to COVID-19 restrictions. Max said
they were told the representative would
return once restrictions were eased. The next
Max heard was that they would now have to
arrange and pay for an electrician to check
the second meter. Max was worried that the
home's most recent electricity bill showed
usage three times higher than for an average
five-person household.
When an Assisted Referral didn't resolve the
complaint for Max, we opened an Investigation.
Max paid $500 towards the arrears that had built
up on the account. Our Investigation confirmed
that Max had been billed on actual meter
readings for two meters (peak and off-peak). We
matched the meter numbers to Max's address.
Our review of the rates on which Max was
charged, showed that the billing was in line with
the contract for the property. We confirmed
that the meter testing the retailer eventually
completed as part of its investigation into Max's
bills showed both meters were working to
Australian Standards.
By early January 2021, Max owed $2,428.88
for billing to October 2020. To assist with
resolution, the retailer offered a $1,381.48 credit
for the pay-on-time discounts Max had missed.
This reduced the arrears to $1,047.40. It offered
Max a payment plan, or an extension if needed.
Max accepted the outcome of our independent
Investigation, electing to pay the $1,047.40
in one payment. The complaint was closed.
2020/16120
Max made the payment and confirmed this to
EWOV in mid-January 2021. In early February
2021, Max came back to us, saying the
$1,381.48 credit still hadn't been applied. The
retailer cited agent error and incorrect process
and promised it would be sorted out in five days.
In mid-February, Max returned to EWOV again
seeking help to get the credit applied.
In March 2021, when the credit was still
outstanding, Max lodged a second complaint
about the retailer's customer service.
Responding to our Investigation of this
complaint, the retailer said the delay was due to
an invoicing issue. It apologised to Max, offering
a further customer service credit of $300
and setting a date by which he would receive
the revised bill, with all credits applied. Max
accepted this offer, and the second complaint
was closed. 2021/2685
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CreditCREDIT UNPAID BILLS AND THE ACTION TAKEN BY ENERGY AND WATER COMPANIES TO COLLECT ARREARS
COMMON SUB-ISSUES DEBT COLLECTION/CREDIT DEFAULT LISTING, PAYMENT DIFFICULTIES, DISCONNECTION
CASE STUDY Recognition of severe financial hardship RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | TENANT | CONCESSIONS NOT APPLIED
Charlie, a tenant in government housing and
unemployed due to COVID-19, was carrying
arrears on both accounts (electricity and gas),
was having trouble paying for current usage,
and hadn't paid an energy bill since August
2019. Charlie was also having trouble getting
concessions applied to both accounts, and
had asked for (but not received) the form for
a Utility Relief Grant. Charlie was frustrated at
having to push so hard to get the energy retailer
to understand their severe financial hardship.
Due to Charlie's vulnerable circumstances,
we exercised our discretion to bypass Assisted
Referral and open an Investigation.
Charlie agreed to pay $100 a fortnight while
we investigated the complaint. We found that
Charlie's concessions couldn't be applied
because of a mismatch between the name on
the accounts and on Charlie's concession card.
Once the corrections were made, 12 months
of backdated concessions were applied, and
Charlie was assured of receiving concessions
going forward. With discounts applied, Charlie's
electricity account was reduced from $1,767.11
to $433.53. Similarly, Charlie's gas account was
reduced from $2,066.40 billed to $1,604.89.
The retailer moved Charlie to its best offer,
and onto a payment plan in line with
requirements outlined under the
Payment Difficulty Framework in the
Energy Retail Code. That agreement included
a payment plan where the arrears would be on
hold for at least six months, while Charlie and
the retailer worked together to try to reduce the
property's energy usage. Charlie would need to
stick to the agreed payments and work with
the retailer to achieve a sustainable outcome.
The retailer sent Charlie the application forms
for a Utility Relief Grant. The complaints were
closed. 2020/9850 & 2020/9853
3,025 CREDIT CASES ↓35%
5 YE AR HIS TORY
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
3,025
8,245 8,121
6,109
4,633
TRENDS IN CREDIT C A SES
EWOV received 3,025 credit cases in 2020-21:
• 61% electricity
• 35% gas
• 4% water.
In electricity and water, the top two credit sub-issues
were debt collection/credit default listing and payment
difficulties, in that order. In gas, it was payment difficulties
followed by debt collection/credit default listing.
Against 2019-20, credit cases were down 35%
(and down 63% from four years ago):
• Electricity credit cases were down 33%
• Gas credit cases were down 37%
• Water credit cases were down 44%.
We identified six credit issues as systemic:
• Disconnection notices missing information
about reconnection SI/2019/16
• Customer referred to financial counselling
without other assistance SI/2020/18
• Non-compliant disconnection notices SI/2019/2
• Payment plan letters missing pay-by dates SI/2020/20
• Forms showing incorrect concession eligibility
dates SI/2021/24
• Misplaced concession paperwork SI/2021/36
For more information on systemic issues
see pages 50 and 51.
TOP SUB-ISSUES
1,120
676
1,221
8
Payment difficulties
Deliveries Stopped
Energy disconnection/water restriction
Debt collection/credit default l isting
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159WDP ASSESSMENTS
Electricit y109
G as50
EWOV ' S ROLE IN A SSESSING ' WRONG FUL DISCONNEC TION '
A Wrongful Disconnection Payment (WDP) is
payable to a customer if an energy retailer hasn't
complied with the terms and conditions of its contract
with the customer, and the requirements of the
Energy Retail Code, before disconnecting electricity
or gas supply. The payment is currently $500 a day
(or part thereof), capped at $3,500 if the customer
doesn't contact the retailer within 14 days. Where we
investigate a customer complaint about an actual
disconnection, we make a separate assessment of
whether a WDP is payable. Where the retailer and
EWOV can't agree on an outcome, we request a formal
decision from the Essential Services Commission. In
2020-21, we finalised 159 WDP assessments, 109 (69%)
electricity and 50 (31%) gas. From these, 92 WDPs were
paid, including 30 paid with no admission of breach by
the retailer. One assessment was referred to the
Essential Services Commission for decision.
OUTCOMES OF WDP A SSESSMENT S CLOSED
39
23
WDP payable
30
12
WDP not payable
29
1
WDP paid - no admission of breach by retailer
6
13
WDP not applicable
5
0
Case not with disconnecting retailer
0
1
Referred to ESC for decision
CASE STUDY Debt waiver vs payment plan LARGE BUSINESS CUSTOMER | DEBT COLLECTION DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN
Affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, Hayden
contacted their business' energy retailer asking
that the electricity and gas accounts be put on
hold. This was agreed. Hayden said that, even
though their business suffered a 40% loss of
income, it continued to make weekly electricity
payments of $500 and gas payments of $250 to
help manage its arrears. Even so, the business
was emailed and called by debt collectors
acting for the retailer. Hayden considered this
to be unnecessary harassment, causing stress
and anxiety, because the retailer knew the
business was suffering financially. Hayden said
the business had been a customer of the retailer
for over ten years, and in recent years its energy
accounts had been in credit. Asked by Hayden
about an electricity contract review and rates
reduction, the retailer said the best it could do
was to put the account on hold. Having then
been contacted by debt collectors, Hayden
doubted this had happened.
At the Assisted Referral stage, the retailer offered
an electricity network tariff change, which it
calculated would save the business around
$715 a year. When Hayden returned to EWOV
still dissatisfied with the retailer's response,
we opened an Investigation. In response, the
retailer said its own investigation had concluded
that Hayden wasn't interested in a payment
plan — just a three months' billing waiver on the
basis of customer loyalty. The retailer said it was
unable to offer that.
The complaint was resolved when Hayden
accepted a three-month payment plan of
$200 a week towards the business' electricity
arrears of just over $15,000, and agreed that all
future bills would be paid in full by the due date.
It was agreed that the payment plan could be
re-negotiated at the end of the three months.
The complaint was closed. 2020/10960
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CASE STUDY The real reason for connection delays BUSINESS CUSTOMER | EXISTING METER, BUT SUPPLY DISCONNECTED | COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATIONS
The property from which Ash was planning
to run a business already had an electricity
meter. After providing the certificate of
compliance requested by the local electricity
distributor, Ash was told that the property's
meter board needed to be relocated by
a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC).
Ash engaged an REC, but the connection
didn't progress. With the power still not on,
Ash contacted EWOV. When an Assisted
Referral didn't resolve the complaint, we
opened an Investigation. Responding to our
Investigation, the distributor attributed the
connection delay to things that Ash's REC
didn't address properly. We reviewed the
service orders received and rejected by the
distributor for the property. We also sought
technical advice. This concluded that several
things contributed to the delay, including lack
of access and incorrect paperwork, but the
main reason was a non-compliant point of
attachment. If the property's electricity hadn't
been disconnected a few years earlier, this
wouldn't have been a problem. Because it
had been disconnected, the work had to be
treated as a new connection in line with the
current Victoria Service & Installations Rules.
Our Investigation found that Ash's REC
had missed critical steps and paperwork.
Ash accepted EWOV's independent advice.
The complaint was closed. 2021/3643
Provision 1,225SUPPLY CASES ↑3%
2,154PROVISION CASES ↓20%
CASE STUDY Disputed notice of water interruption RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | REGIONAL LOCATION | SUDDENLY WITHOUT WATER
Finding no water coming from their
property's aqueduct feed, Jesse rang the
local water corporation. The corporation's
response was that notice of the planned
maintenance had been sent to all affected
residents. Jesse said they didn't receive any
notice, and enquiries of others in the local
community showed the same. Four adults
and one child lived at Jesse's place. During
the outage, they couldn't flush the toilet,
wash, or shower. The water corporation
told Jesse the water would be restored the
next day. Jesse said, that in the meantime it
was necessary to make a 40-minute round
trip to the nearest supermarket to buy water
for washing and cooking. Jesse said they
usually received a text message warning of
maintenance to the aqueduct. This gave
them time to prepare and fill the spare supply
tank (which required a water tanker delivery
costing around $700). Jesse pointed to an
agreement that residents must be made
aware of supply restrictions or interruptions.
Because the family was without water, we
exercised EWOV's discretion to bypass
Assisted Referral and open an Investigation.
Responding to our Investigation, the water
corporation said it always gave residents
notice and had done so in this case.
However, it couldn't provide the evidence we
requested that the notice had actually been
sent. Jesse accepted a customer service
payment of $50 and the water corporation's
undertaking that in future they would be
given seven days' notice of any planned
supply interruptions. The complaint was
closed. 2020/12066
SupplyPROVISION CONNECTION OF A PROPERTY TO AN ENERGY OR WATER NETWORK
COMMON SUB-ISSUES EXISTING CONNECTION, NEW CONNECTION
SUPPLY PHYSICAL DELIVERY OF THE ELECTRICITY, GAS OR WATER SERVICE
COMMON SUB-ISSUES UNPLANNED OUTAGE, PLANNED OUTAGE, QUALITY, VARIATION
TRENDS IN SUPPLY C A SES
EWOV received 1,225 supply cases in 2020-21:
• 72% electricity – most commonly about
unplanned outage, planned outage, variation
• 16% gas – most commonly about quality
• 11% water – most commonly about quality.
Against 2019-20, supply cases were up 3%
(and up 8% from four years ago):
• Electricity supply cases were up 9%
• Gas supply cases were down 4%
• Water supply cases were down 13%.
We identified two supply issues as systemic:
• Planned outage notice left to owners'
corporation SI/2020/2
• Water in distributor's gas lines SI/2020/31
For more information on systemic issues
see pages 50 and 51.
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
5 YE AR HIS TORY
5 YE AR HIS TORY
1 ,1851 ,2781 ,257
1 ,1371 ,225
2,154
3,691
5,187
3,976
2,693
TRENDS IN PROVISION C A SES
EWOV received 2,154 provision cases in 2020-21:
• 67% electricity
• 26% gas
• 6% water.
In all three industries, provision at an existing
connection was the most common sub-issue.
Against 2019-20, provision cases were down 20%
(and down 42% from four years ago):
• Electricity provision cases were down 19%
• Gas provision cases were down 27%
• Water provision cases were up 14%.
TOP SUB-ISSUES
585
158
1,411
New Connection
Disconnection/Restriction
Existing Connection
474
283
225
TOP SUB-ISSUES
187
Off Supply - Planned
Quality
Variation
Off Supply - Unplanned
41
Sewer/Stormwater Overflow/Blockage
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 41
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CASE STUDY Pruning in question after fallen line electrifies fences RURAL CUSTOMER | TIME TAKEN TO RESPOND | VEGETATION MANAGEMENT
During a late afternoon storm, a branch fell
onto a powerline on Lou's property causing
the line to fall across their wire fence. The
Country Fire Authority (CFA) arrived quickly,
telling Lou two fences were electrified. They
were told to stay clear, preferably inside, until
the local electricity distributor came. The
distributor arrived 16 hours later. Lou was
upset that the repair took so long given the
dangerous situation. Lou also raised concerns
that the distributor wasn't doing enough to
keep the trees pruned. Assessing that the
complaint was unlikely to resolve through an
Assisted Referral, the distributor requested an
EWOV Investigation. It told us that a severe
weather front crossing Victoria had led to
more faults in one day than it usually receives
in a month, many of them high priority.
Around 59,000 customers were affected.
The distributor said that when the CFA rang
to report wires down, live wires weren't
mentioned, so the work was assessed as
lower priority. On top of that, problems it had
with its Outage Management System meant
staff had to use a contingency application to
report faults. On vegetation management,
it said its responsibilities were to ensure
adequate clearance from powerlines.
Ongoing maintenance of a tree or further
clearing outside the minimum clearance was
the responsibility of the tree owner, in this
case the Council. It apologised for the delay
in addressing the situation at the properties.
Lou accepted the distributor's response to
our Investigation. The complaint was closed.
2021/607
LandLAND HOW COMPANY ACTIVITIES OR NETWORK ASSETS AFFECT A CUSTOMER'S PROPERTY
COMMON SUB-ISSUES NETWORK ASSETS, PROPERTY DAMAGE, VEGETATION MANAGEMENT
TRENDS IN L AND C A SES
EWOV received 669 land cases in 2020-21:
• 47% electricity, most commonly about
network assets, vegetation management
• 14% gas, most commonly about network
assets, property damage
• 38% water, most commonly about property
damage, network assets.
Against 2019-20, land cases were up 3%
(and up 12% from four years ago):
• Electricity land cases were up 4%
• Gas land cases were down 18%
• Water land cases were up 12%.
669L AND CASES ↑3%
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
598 619
706
648669
5 YE AR HIS TORY
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ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 43
CASE STUDY Apology sought after marketing email RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | RECENT DEATH IN FAMILY | QUESTIONS CAUSED DISTRESS
Chris was upset at receiving marketing
emails asking how much electricity their
home was using and whether that was
less than used the year before. The emails
went on to ask other questions, including
whether there were fewer people living in the
house. Because Chris' partner had passed
away earlier in the year, this question was
particularly distressing. Chris rang the retailer,
but said it had shown little care and didn't
take the concerns seriously. Chris wanted the
retailer to change its marketing strategy to
be more thoughtful. Chris returned to EWOV
when an Assisted Referral didn't resolve the
complaint. The retailer's response had been
that there was no guarantee it would change
its marketing strategy, but it could remove
Chris from receiving the marketing. Chris
believed this was because it didn't really want
to change the offending question. Following
EWOV's opening of an Investigation, the
retailer apologised to Chris for the distress
caused. It advised that the issues Chris raised
had now been escalated for review, and
action if that was possible. In the meantime,
Chris wouldn't receive any more marketing
material. 2020/18320
Marketing 154MARKETING CASES ↓41%
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
154
525573 576
261
5 YE AR HIS TORY
TRENDS IN M ARKETING C A SES
EWOV received 154 marketing cases in 2020-21:
• 80% electricity
• 19% gas.
In both industries, misleading marketing was
the most common sub-issue.
Against 2019-20, marketing cases were down 41%
(and down 71% from four years ago):
• Electricity marketing cases were down 39%
• Gas marketing cases were down 48%.
We identified two marketing issues as systemic:
• Fraudulent door-to-door sales SI/2020/34
• Inappropriate material SI/2021/26
For more information on systemic issues
see pages 50 and 51.
TOP SUB-ISSUES
90
30
13
21
Other
Information
Pressure Sales
Misleading
1,242TR ANSFER CASES ↓30%
CASE STUDY Chasing answers after surprise disconnection TENANT | TRANSFER IN ERROR | BOUNCED BETWEEN RETAILERS
In late August 2020, the electricity at Alex's
unit was disconnected after a real estate
agent that managed two units in the block
requested a retailer switch for another unit.
Alex said that after no bills arrived, they'd
called their retailer. They were told their
electricity account was now held by a
different retailer. Calling the second retailer,
Alex was told it had no record of them. Alex
went back to the original retailer. It agreed to
fix things. Soon afterwards, Alex's electricity
was cut off. The local electricity distributor
told Alex the second retailer had ordered
the disconnection. Alex rang the second
retailer again, and was again told it had no
record of them. Alex went back to their
original retailer seeking urgent reconnection.
While the electricity was off, Alex's fridge
stopped working and contents were lost.
On top of this, the real estate agent which
had requested the retailer switch presented
them with an electricity bill of almost $450
for the other unit. When an Assisted Referral
didn't resolve the complaint, we opened an
Investigation. The retailer recognised that
it hadn't taken appropriate steps to reverse
the incorrect switch. It provided a customer
service payment of $100 and waived all billing
for the period it wrongly held Alex's account.
It also agreed it hadn't followed the law when
it disconnected Alex's electricity. Because the
power was off for 7 hours and 39 minutes,
Alex would receive a cheque for a Wrongful
Disconnection Payment of $159.37.
The complaint was closed. 2020/14915
TransferMARKETING HOW ELECTRICITY AND GAS RETAILERS GO ABOUT GAINING NEW CUSTOMERS
COMMON SUB-ISSUES MISLEADING, PRESSURE SALES, INFORMATION
TRANSFER SWITCHING AN ELECTRICITY OR GAS ACCOUNT TO ANOTHER ENERGY RETAILER
COMMON SUB-ISSUES ERROR, CONTRACT TERMS, DELAY, WITHOUT CONSENT
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
3,802
1 ,242
3,2833,089
1 ,784
5 YE AR HIS TORY
TRENDS IN TR ANSFER C A SES
EWOV received 1,242 transfer cases in 2020-21:
• 60% electricity, most commonly about error,
contract terms, delay
• 40% gas, most commonly about error, delay.
Against 2019-20, transfer cases were down 30%
(and down 62% from four years ago):
• Electricity transfer cases were down 30%
• Gas transfer cases were also down 30%.
We identified one transfer issue as systemic:
• The matter of explicit informed consent SI/2019/29
For more information on systemic issues
see pages 50 and 51.
TOP SUB-ISSUES
399
254
182
221
133
Delay
Without Consent
Contract Terms
Objection
In Error
CU
ST
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RV
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PR
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4 4 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 45
CASE STUDY Unclear solar upgrade fees RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | WORDING OF CUSTOMER CORRESPONDENCE
Bailey complained that an electricity retailer
had provided misleading and inaccurate
information about solar connection and
associated charges when it told them
they'd be billed for solar connection meter
upgrade changes only if the local distributor
charged the retailer. When an Assisted
Referral didn't resolve the complaint, we
opened an Investigation. Our Investigation
confirmed that meter fees are normal for
a solar upgrade. The retailer corrected the
information it provided, advising that only
existing customers aren't charged. The
retailer apologised to Bailey, saying they
should have been told there was a fee
and, depending on what work had to be
done, the fee could vary. Bailey believed
the retailer should change the wording on
its customer correspondence, to be clear
about the charges. The retailer undertook
to take Bailey's feedback about clearer
customer communication back to the teams
concerned. In recognition of Bailey's poor
customer experience, the retailer waived the
remote upgrade fee and an administration
fee (a total of $83.12) and provided a $100
customer service payment. The $183.12
credit was applied to Bailey's next bill.
The complaint was closed. 2020/722
Customer service Privacy
694CUSTOMER SERVICE CASES ↓8%
CASE STUDY Account access after relationship split RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | DETAILS RELEASED WITHOUT CONSENT
Several years earlier the home's water
account was put into Leslie's name. After the
July 2020 bill was paid, a reminder notice
arrived for another one. It was for Leslie's
address, but had a different account number.
It turned out that Leslie's ex-husband had
rung the water corporation about receiving
bills, and this had been addressed by setting
up another account for Leslie. At Assisted
Referral, the water corporation found that
the account ownership changes hadn't been
completed properly. It said it had apologised
and assured Leslie the problem was fixed.
Leslie returned to EWOV still dissatisfied,
and saying that referral of the account to
debt collection had caused a further privacy
breach and was wrong because the bill had
been paid in full. Leslie maintained none
of this would have happened if the water
corporation hadn't changed the account
number without telling her. As compensation,
Leslie wanted the water corporation to
make a charity donation. Responding to our
Investigation of the complaint, the water
corporation admitted that the removal of
Leslie's ex-husband from the account wasn't
completed properly. With this now fixed,
it suggested Leslie change the password.
After discussion with us, and its own internal
review of similar complaints, the water
corporation offered a customer service
payment of $500. It confirmed the issues
had been addressed with management, and
that staff had been retrained to help prevent
a similar error. It paid the $500 to Leslie's
nominated charity. 2020/13815
CUSTOMER SERVICE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE RECEIVED OR NOT RECEIVED
COMMON SUB-ISSUES POOR SERVICE, FAILURE TO RESPOND, INCORRECT ADVICE OR INFORMATION
PRIVACY HOW A CUSTOMER'S PERSONAL INFORMATION IS HANDLED
COMMON SUB-ISSUES DETAILS RELEASED, DISCLOSURE REFUSED BY COMPANY, DETAILS OBTAINED WITHOUT CONSENT
102PRIVACY CASES ↓16%
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
5 YE AR HIS TORY
694
278
522
746 752
5 YE AR HIS TORY
102
77
95
129122
TRENDS IN PRIVACY C A SES
EWOV received 102 privacy cases in 2020-21:
• 63% electricity – most commonly about details
released, details obtained without consent
• 24% gas – most commonly about disclosure
refused by company
• 12% water – most commonly about details released.
Against 2019-20, privacy cases were down 16%
(but up 32% from four years ago):
• Electricity privacy cases were down 12%
• Gas privacy cases were down 23%
• Water privacy cases were down 29%.
TRENDS IN CUS TOMER SERVICE C A SES
EWOV received 694 customer service cases in 2020-21:
• 65% electricity – most commonly about poor
service, failure to respond
• 24% gas – most commonly about poor service
• 8% water – most commonly about failure to
respond, poor service.
Against 2019-20, customer service cases were
down 8% (but up 150% from four years ago):
• Electricity customer service cases were down 12%
• Gas customer service cases were down 6%
• Water customer service cases were up 37%.
We identified two customer service issues as systemic:
• Ombudsman information on website
SI/2021/22 & SI/2021/23
For more information on systemic issues see
pages 50 and 51.
116
Failure to Consult/Inform
TOP SUB-ISSUES
296
163
119
Failure to Respond
Incorrect Advice/Information
Poor Service
16
Obtained Without Consent
12
Other
TOP SUB-ISSUES
35
23
16
Disclosure Refused by Provider
Details Requested by Provider
Details Released
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 47
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46 2021 ANNUAL REPORT* Providing access to free and effective energy dispute resolution services such as EWOV would help meet these policy objectives.
Listening to and learning from the VOICES
The energy system is in transition. Australians
are adopting new energy products and services
more quickly than anticipated — rooftop solar, and
increasingly home batteries, electric vehicles, home
energy management systems, microgrids and virtual
power plants. This means the issues customers are
raising with EWOV are changing.
Building our knowledge of new energy technologies
will mean we're better able to help the customers
who contact us. It will also help us prepare for,
and understand EWOV's role in, the energy system
transition. To this end, in early 2020, we joined with the
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
to commission a social research project on household
motivations and experiences with new energy products
and services.
The research was undertaken by the Australian National
University’s Battery, Storage and Grid Integration
Program. From June 2020 to February 2021, the ANU
researchers spoke to 92 householders, businesses and
industry experts — using semi-structured interviews
and technology tours, focus groups, content analysis of
a popular online user forum, and a secondary analysis
of user data.
The result was a report we've called VOICES (Victorian
Energy and Water Ombudsman’s Investigation of
Consumer Experiences). It's available on our website.
So, what did the researchers find out from the
households which took part in the research project?
On motivations, attitudes and expectations
• There was a high degree of householder 'transition
awareness' — knowledge of, and motivation to
support, the energy transition. All households taking
part in the research project were motivated by
pro-environmental attitudes to some extent. Other
key motivations included financial expectations,
a desire for greater self-sufficiency and resilience,
community-mindedness, enthusiasm for
technology, and comfort. These motivations,
attitudes and expectations were held in varying
combinations and interacted in complex, and
sometimes conflicting, ways.
On information sources and preferences
• When it came to information, householders felt
there was a lack of leadership from government
and industry, and said that some technology
providers failed to provide them with adequate
information. Many indicated that they'd turned
to community groups and peers for experiential
information, and they valued this highly.
On experiences with installation and use
• It was clear that providers — retailers, installers and
dealers — play a central role in determining whether
householder experiences with new energy products
and services are positive. Good providers take the
time to understand the household's needs, and help
them navigate complex technological choices.
Post-installation roles, such as handover and after-
sales support, were also considered critical.
Views on emerging business models and reforms
• Householders raised a range of concerns around
new energy technology — generally driven by a
feeling that the motivations of the energy sector
aren't in line with their own. These concerns
include data privacy. Householders also want
to control aspects of their energy use and the
technologies they adopt — expressing scepticism
about whether third-party automation and control
is in their best interests.
IMPLIC ATIONS AND POSSIBLE RESPONSES
Regardless of their degree of environmental concern,
householders want an energy system that:
• is affordable, both financially and environmentally
• allows them to achieve their particular priorities
— e.g. comfort, convenience, self-sufficiency,
entertainment, community care
• is fair, and doesn't penalise those who are unable
to, or unwilling to, engage.
Currently, the energy sector isn't providing people
with a system that reflects those values:
• Information is complex and confusing.
• Managing new energy technology for a positive
outcome is hard work, and beyond the capacity of
many Australians, including vulnerable groups —
quality, complexity, accessibility, timeframes and
culture are key risk areas, which will affect more
people over time if not addressed.
To address these failings, policy responses should seek to:
• increase consumer protections for existing
technology users*
• expand access to cheap, clean electricity —
including for vulnerable groups — in a way that
doesn't increase their risk and avoids unwelcome
‘responsibilisation’ of householders.
• build trust and confidence in the energy sector.*
AUSTR ALIANS ARE ADOP TING NEW ENERGY PRODUC TS AND SERVICES MORE QUICKLY THAN ANTICIPATED.
CASE STUDY Responsibility for solar connection delay BUSINESS CUSTOMER | LARGE SOLAR SYSTEM | FEED-IN CREDITS
Even though the solar system for Andy's
business was installed in December 2019,
nine months later it still wasn't connected
to the grid. Andy believed the business was
owed feed-in credits for solar generation of
about 27,000 kWh. When an Assisted Referral
didn't resolve the complaint, we opened
an Investigation. Our Investigation found
that the connection delay was largely due
to incorrect or incomplete paperwork from
Andy's electrical contractor, and that Andy's
missing solar export credits were offset by
the early activation of the solar array. So, even
though the solar system wasn't connected to
the grid, Andy's business had benefitted from
solar generation since late 2019. Despite not
being found responsible for the delay,
the distributor offered Andy a customer
service payment of $1,200, which we
assessed to be a fair offer. Andy accepted
this. The complaint was closed. 2020/11592
SOLAR RELATING TO SOLAR INSTALLATION BY A COMPANY THAT IS AN EWOV SCHEME PARTICIPANT
COMMON SUB-ISSUES TARIFF, PROVISION AT AN EXISTING CONNECTION, HIGH BILL
TRENDS IN SOL AR C A SES
In 2020-21 we registered 1,296 solar cases,
down 12% from 1,467 cases in 2019-20.
We were able to assist with 981 of these cases,
which fell within EWOV's jurisdiction because the
complaint was about a company which is an EWOV
scheme participant. Billing and provision were the
most common issues.
315 cases fell outside EWOV's jurisdiction, most of
these related to solar installers. We referred these
customers to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
We registered 514 in-jurisdiction solar billing cases.
309 (60%) were about tariffs. 74 (14%) were
about high bills.
We registered 313 in-jurisdiction solar provision
cases. 281 (90%) were about provision at an
existing connection.
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
1,296
315
981
1 ,8001 ,685
1 ,949
1 ,467380
484
573
364
1 ,4201 ,201
1 ,3761 ,103
5 YE AR HIS TORY
Out of jurisdiction In jurisdiction
1,296SOL AR CASES ↓12%
Solar
48 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 49
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CASE STUDY Paying more than the Victorian Default Offer disconnectionRESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER | APARTMENT BLOCK | EMBEDDED ELECTRICITY NETWORK Ray recently found out they'd been charged
more than the Victorian Default Offer
(VDO) since moving into their apartment in
May 2020. Ray said the electricity retailer's
explanation was that this was because the
property's body corporate agreed to a rate
when the building was built. Ray believed their
apartment had been used for short-term rental
before they moved in. Following an Assisted
Referral, Ray returned to EWOV saying the
electricity retailer had refused to reduce their
rates to comply with the VDO. Responding
to EWOV's Investigation of the complaint,
the electricity retailer said its review of the
complaint showed that Ray's apartment was
actually being billed on an embedded network
business tariff. The retailer acknowledged
that since September 2020, customers in
residential embedded networks can't be billed
on rates higher than the VDO rates. But it
said that in this case Ray's billing was wrong
because the billing was on business rates, not
residential rates. The retailer cancelled and
reissued Ray's May 2020 to October 2020
electricity bills on its residential rates, which
were slightly less than the VDO maximum.
This left Ray owing $93.67. It also provided
a customer service credit of $150. Ray was
satisfied with this outcome. The complaint
was closed. 2020/15728
Embedded network EMBEDDED NETWORK A PRIVATE ELECTRICITY NETWORK THAT IS, OR IS PART OF, AN EWOV SCHEME PARTICIPANT
COMMON SUB-ISSUES HIGH BILL, BILLING ERROR, BILLING DELAY, ELECTRICITY DISCONNECTION
Embedded networks are private electricity networks
supplying homes or businesses within specific
self-contained sites — such as caravan parks, retirement
villages, apartment blocks and shopping centres.
EWOV has been dealing with embedded network
complaints since July 2018, under the Victorian
Government's General Exemption Order.
Electricity customers in embedded networks are partly
covered by the existing energy consumer protections.
Early in 2021, we contributed our embedded network
case handling experience to the Victorian Government's
Embedded Networks Review. We also raised concerns
about gaps in the regulatory framework which need
to be addressed to ensure customers in embedded
networks can access safe and reliable energy services,
and bring their complaints to EWOV.
TRENDS IN EMBEDDED NET WORK C A SES
In 2020-21, EWOV received 563 embedded network
cases, down two cases from 565 in 2019-20.
144 cases were registered as Enquiries.
419 cases were registered as Complaints:
• 99 Unassisted Referrals
• 250 Assisted Referrals
• 70 Investigations.
563EMBEDDED
NET WORK CASES
↓2
CREDIT
28
17
13
Debt collection/credit default listing
Payment difficulties
Disconnection
BILLING
86
56
50
Error
Delay
High
5 0 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 51
Systemic issues OUR SYS TEMIC ISSUES DEFINITION
EWOV defines a systemic issue as an issue,
problem or change in company policy or practice that
affects, or has the potential to affect, a number
of customers. Some affected customers contact
EWOV, and some don't.
OUR SYS TEMIC ISSUES ROLE
Identification of systemic issues — through EWOV's
casework, customer surveys and data analysis —
gives us the opportunity to work with the company
concerned, to bring about a timely and efficient
solution and reduce the potential for more customers
to be affected.
Our systemic issues identification and reporting
responsibilities are underpinned by the EWOV Charter
and the EWOV Limited Constitution, regulatory
memoranda of understanding and reporting protocols,
and the Benchmarks for Industry-Based Customer
Dispute Resolution. These responsibilities differ slightly
between energy and water.
CUS TOMER REFERRED TO FINANCIAL COUNSELLING WITHOUT OTHER A SSIS TANCE
An energy retailer was referring customers with
payment difficulties to financial counselling,
without providing them with assistance. Under
clause 91 of the Energy Retail Code, a retailer must
not impose any condition on payment difficulties
assistance. We referred this issue to the Essential
Services Commission. SI/2020/18
CUSTOMERS WRONGLY INFORMED METER READINGS WOULD BE ESTIMATED
An energy retailer had been telling customers their
meter readings would be estimated because meters
weren't being read due to COVID-19. Customers could
provide a self-read if they wished. The retailer told us
it had received conflicting information about meter
readings, so thought it best to warn customers. Once it
became clear that distributors were still reading meters,
it stopped doing this. SI/2020/26
APPLIANCE USAG E INFORM ATION INCORREC T
An energy retailer published a tool on its website where
usage information could be broken down by appliance.
EWOV's technical consultant reviewed the tool after
we received complaints, and formed the view that the
information was incorrect. The retailer removed the
tool from its website and contacted affected customers
to explain the tool was intended as a guide only.
SI/2020/45
DA SHBOARD OVERES TIM ATING PREDIC TED BILL S
A customer account dashboard, created by an energy
retailer to predict the cost of upcoming bills, was
shown to be overestimating the bills by three to four
times for the customers who complained to us. We
investigated and found that the dashboard wasn't
suitable for customers who received a large solar
rebate. The company disabled the dashboard while
they worked to improve it. SI/2020/36
FR AUDULENT DOOR-TO -DOOR SALES
We identified fraudulent activity related to door-to-
door sales by a representative of one energy retailer.
The retailer reported the individual to police and
cancelled the affected sales. We determined that the
customer identification process used by the retailer
was suitable, but was open to fraudulent abuse. We
referred the issue to the Essential Services Commission
in December 2020. In July 2021, it fined the retailer $2.5
million for not obtaining proper consent when signing up
customers. SI/2020/34
In energy, where we believe a potential systemic issue
exists and it hasn't been appropriately remediated by
the energy company — or we haven't been able to
obtain a formal response from the scheme participant
— or a compliance breach is discovered, we refer the
case to the Essential Services Commission for further
investigation and subsequent action.
In water, we identify, investigate, and seek redress for
all affected customers and report the outcomes to the
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.
Our public reporting of systemic issues brings a greater
level of transparency to industry practices — helping
to drive customer service improvements and prevent
more complaints.
In May 2021, we launched Detect, our new systemic
issues publication. The first edition highlighted two
issues — access for customers to Utility Relief Grants
and promotion to customers of EWOV's services.
We strongly suggested that companies assess whether
they were meeting their regulatory obligations to
customers in these important areas.
BILLING
• Problems with bulk billing of hot water customers
SI/2019/5
• Payment reminder notices non-compliant SI/2019/27
• Customers not informed about a network tariff
change SI/2020/2
• Wording of reminder notices SI/2020/4
• Confusing wording about charges for a retirement
community SI/2020/17
• Customers wrongly informed meter readings
would be estimated SI/2020/26
• Confusing language in contract renewal letters
SI/2020/35
• Dashboard overestimating predicted bills SI/2020/36
• Unread meters lead to billing delays SI/2020/37
• Appliance usage information incorrect SI/2020/45
• No hour of power SI/2020/47
• Refund rejections and delays SI/2021/9
• Retailer obligations that bills can be verified easily
SI/2021/28
CREDIT
• Disconnection notices missing information about
reconnection SI/2019/16
• Customer referred to financial counselling
without other assistance SI/2020/18
• Non-compliant disconnection notices SI/2019/2
• Payment plan letters missing pay-by dates SI/2020/20
• Forms showing incorrect concession eligibility
dates SI/2021/24
• Misplaced concession paperwork SI/2021/36
M ARKE TING
• Fraudulent door-to-door sales SI/2020/34
• Inappropriate material SI/2021/26
SUPPLY
• Planned outage notice left to owners' corporation
SI/2020/2
• Water in distributor's gas lines SI/2020/31
TR ANSFER
• The matter of explicit informed consent SI/2019/29
CUS TOMER SERVICE
• Ombudsman information on website SI/2021/22 &
SI/2021/23
NON-COMPLIANT DISCONNECTION NOTICES
An energy retailer was issuing disconnection notices
that we believed to be non-compliant, because they
didn't outline reconnection procedures, a breach of the
Energy Retail Code. The retailer amended its notices,
but said it didn't believe it had breached the Code.
We sought the Essential Services Commission's advice
and it requested that we close our Investigation so that
it could do its own. The Essential Services Commission
found that the retailer had breached the Code. It sent
the retailer a formal warning. SI/2019/2
NOTICE OF PL ANNED OUTAG E LEF T TO OWNERS ' CORPOR ATION
An electricity distributor didn't notify apartment
residents in a mixed-use building of a planned outage,
instead relying on the owners' corporation to notify the
residents. The owners' corporation placed a notice in
the lift and distributed leaflets, but these didn't include
a 24-hour contact number for the distributor. As a
result of our Investigation, the distributor amended its
process to ensure that the notification processes in
the Energy Distribution Code would be followed in the
future, regardless of the entities involved. SI/2020/42
REFUND REJEC TIONS AND DEL AYS
Insufficient funds in a retailer's refund account led
to refund rejections, affecting 170 customers in
November and December 2020. The retailer's payment
provider then didn't update the refund status. The
retailer's IT team addressed the issue with the provider
and improved the refund process. At the time we
closed the systemic issue, most affected customers
had received their refunds. SI/2021/9
CUS TOMERS NOT INFORMED ABOUT A NET WORK TARIFF CHANG E
An electricity retailer failed to inform customers that
their network tariff had changed to a cost-reflective
tariff from 1 January 2017. It was also reversing and
reissuing bills without telling customers why. Due
to contract renewal, a product change or a meter
change, some customers received a new contract pack
that included demand pricing. For these customers,
the retailer agreed to credit any demand charges
billed up to the date they received the demand pricing
information. Where customers were never notified, the
retailer re-billed them without any demand charges
and put them back onto their original non-demand
tariff. SI/2020/2
IN 2020 -21 , WE IDENTIFIED AND CLOSED 26 SYS TEMIC ISSUES , ALL IN ENERGY.
SY
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52 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 53
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Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always add to 100%.
THE C A SE TRENDS
11,801CASES RECEIVED ↓17%
899ENQUIRIES RECEIVED ↑20%
10,902COMPL AINTS RECEIVED ↓19%
THE CUS TOMERS
In Victoria there are just over 2.93 million residential and
small business electricity customers1, most of whom
have been able to choose their electricity retailer since
early 2002. They can't choose their electricity distributor,
because each of the five distributors owns and operates
the 'poles and wires' network in a specific part of the
state. Some customers (e.g. customers in caravan parks,
retirement villages, retail complexes) buy their electricity
through an embedded network entity.
THE COMPANIES
At 30 June 2021, EWOV Limited had 60 electricity
members2 under licence:
• 52 Retailers
• 5 Distributors
• 3 Transmission companies
A further 511 electricity embedded network entities
were members under the General Exemption Order.
1 Essential Services Commission 2020, Victorian Energy Market Report: 2019-20
2 Some EWOV Limited members trade under multiple 'brands'. There's a full list on our website: www.ewov.com.au
5-YE AR HIS TORY OF C A SE NUMBERS
C A SES BY S TAG ES
Enquiries899
Unassisted Referrals1,598
Assisted Referrals7,333
Investigations1,971
C A SES BY CUS TOMER T YPE
Business1,321
Residential 10,431
Not-for-profit/ government
49
46%
Billing 5,481
High 1,158Error 1,050Tarif f 962Concession 570Backbill 396Fees and Charges 360Refund/Credit 347Delay 236Estimation 133Other 89Format 87Meter 76Bulk Hot Water 17
16%
Credit 1,832
Debt collection/ credit default l isting 761Payment Dif f iculties 662Disconnection 409
Provision 1,448
Existing Connection 995New Connection 347Disconnection 106
General Enquiry 454
Electricity 454
Transfer 742
In Error 219Contract Terms 164Delay 124Without Consent 116Objection 83Cooling Off Rights 36
Supply 886
Off Supply - Unplanned 420Off Supply - Planned 258Variation 199Quality 9
8% 6% 4%
3%4%
Land 317
Network Assets 138Vegetation Management 100Property Damage 50Street Lighting 16Other 7Easement 6
Customer service 454
Poor Service 185Failure to Respond 113Incorrect Advice/ Failure to Consult/Inform 81Information 75
Privacy 64
Details Released 20Details Obtained Without Consent 14Disclosure Refused by Provider 12Details Requested by Provider 11Other 7
Marketing 123
Misleading 71Other 21Pressure sales 20Information 11
1% 1%
12%
THE M AIN ISSUES Electricity
15,000
20,000
10,000
0
5,000
8,852
Retail
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Note: There were also 3 transmission cases and 831 (7%) non-company specific electricity cases.
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
3,000
4,000
5,000
2,000
0
1,000
2,115
Distribution
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
300
400
600
200
0
100
563
Embedded Network
500
5 4 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 55
GA
S
Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always add to 100%.
55%
Billing 3,319
18% 9%
Credit 1,070
Payment Dif f iculties 416Debt collection/Credit default listing 394Disconnection 252Deliveries Stopped 8
Provision 570
Existing connection 340New connection 185Disconnection 45
Customer service 169
Poor Service 87Incorrect Advice/Information 31Failure to Respond 27Failure to Consult/Inform 24
Supply 202
Quality 122Off Supply - Unplanned 40Variation 25Off Supply - Planned 15
Transfer 500
In Error 180Delay 130Without Consent 66Contract Terms 57Objection 50Cooling Off Rights 17
8% 3% 3%
1%2% >1%
General Enquiry 67
Gas 67
Land 95
Property Damage 50Network Assets 44Easement 1
Privacy 24
Disclosure Refused by Provider 10Details Released 5Details Requested by Provider 5Obtained without Consent 2Other 2
Marketing 30
Misleading 19Other 8Information 2Pressure Sales 1
>1%
THE C A SE TRENDS
6,046 CASES RECEIVED ↓23%
158ENQUIRIES RECEIVED ↑49%
5,888COMPL AINTS RECEIVED ↓24%
THE CUS TOMERS
There are just over 2.11 million residential and small
business gas customers in Victoria3, who have been
able to choose their natural gas retailer since 2002.
They can't choose their distributor, because each
of the natural gas distributors owns and operates
a network of pipes in a specific part of the state.
Customers using LPG at home, or in their business,
can choose from LPG retailers or resellers operating
in their area.
THE COMPANIES
At 30 June 2021, EWOV Limited had 34 gas members4:
• 25 Natural gas retailers under licence
• 5 Natural gas distributors under licence
• 4 Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) retailers
under the LPG Industry Code.
Note: There were also 127 (2%) non-company specific gas and LPG cases.
C A SES BY S TAG ES
Enquiries158
Unassisted Referrals678
Assisted Referrals4,146
Investigations1,064
C A SES BY CUS TOMER T YPE
Business324
Residential 5,712
Not-for-profit/ government
10
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
600
800
1,000
1,200
400
0
200
568
Distribution
3 Essential Services Commission 2020, Victorian Energy Market Report: 2019-20
4 Some EWOV Limited members trade under multiple 'brands'. There's a full list on our website: www.ewov.com.au
High 831Error 688Estimation 365Concession 337Backbill 276Fees and Charges 161Refund/Credit 159Tarif f 130Bulk Hot Water 95Delay 82Meter 82Format 57Other 56
5-YE AR HIS TORY OF C A SE NUMBERS
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
4.000
0
2.000
5,303
Retail - Natural Gas
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
60
80
100
40
0
20
48
Retail - LPG
THE M AIN ISSUES Gas
5 6 2021 ANNUAL REPORT ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 57
WA
TE
R
Note: Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always add to 100%.
50%
Billing 760
High 311Fees and Charges 164Error 79Backbill 38Format 29Concession 28Delay 26Refund/Credit 25Estimation 20Meter 18Other 18Tarif f 4
17% 9%
Land 255
Property Damage 116Network Assets 96Easement 31Other 12
Provision 135
Existing Connection 75New Connection 53Restriction 7
9%
Credit 120
Debt collection/credit default listing 63Payment Dif f iculties 42Restriction 15
8%
Customer service 56
Failure to Respond 19Poor Service 16Incorrect Advice/Information 12Failure to Consult/Inform 9
4%
Privacy 12
Details Released 10Disclosure Refused by Provider 1Other 1
General Enquiry 50
Water 49Non Water 1
3% 1%
THE C A SE TRENDS
1,525 CASES RECEIVED ↓1%
110ENQUIRIES RECEIVED ↑29%
1,415COMPL AINTS RECEIVED ↓3%
C A SES BY S TAG ES
Enquiries110
Unassisted Referrals293
Assisted Referrals909
Investigations213
C A SES BY CUS TOMER T YPE
Business218
Residential 1,295
Not-for-profit/ government
12
THE CUS TOMERS
Victoria's water customers now number over
2.865 million (more than 2.635 million5 residential
and over 230,574 non-residential). These customers
are provided with water supply, sewage and trade
waste disposal and treatment, water delivery for
irrigation and domestic and stock purposes, drainage,
and salinity mitigation services.
THE COMPANIES
At 30 June 2021, EWOV Limited had 19 water
members6, all State-owned water corporations
constituted under the Water Industry Act 1989:
• 3 metropolitan retailers
• 1 metropolitan wholesaler
• 11 regional urban water corporations
• 2 rural water corporations
• 2 rural urban corporations.
5-YE AR HIS TORY OF C A SE NUMBERS
Note: There were also 87 (6%) non-company specific water cases.
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
1,500
2,000
1,000
0
500
1,010
45
Metropolitan retail Metropolitan wholesale
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
300
400
500
200
0
100
284
Regional Urban Rural and Rural Urban
99
Supply 137
Quality 56Sewer - Stormwater Overflow 41Water Licensing 15Off Supply - Unplanned 14Off Supply - Planned 10Variation 1
5 Essential Services Commission 2020, Water Performance Report 2019–20: Performance of Victorian urban water and sewerage businesses, 9 December
6 Listed on our website: www.ewov.com.au
THE M AIN ISSUES Water
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 59
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5 8 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
INCOME S TATEMENT
FOR THE YE AR ENDED 30 JUNE 2021
BAL ANCE SHEET
FOR THE YE AR ENDED 30 JUNE 2021
2021 2020
$ $
Revenue 9,849,188 8,630,390
Employee benefits expense (6,493,032) (7,036,748)
Depreciation and amortisation expense (1,107,025) (1,097,014)
Finance lease interest (204,317) (220,499)
Occupancy (253,227) (403,112)
Administration expenses (816,286) (783,557)
Consultancy expenses (118,065) (286,274)
Research & Communication expenses (139,068) (137,115)
Training and development (106,675) (141,844)
Bad debts provision (67,615) (2,232)
Profit/(Loss) before income tax expense 543,878 (1,478,005)
Income tax expense - -
Profit/(Loss) for the year 543,878 (1,478,005)
Other Comprehensive Profit/(Loss) - -
Total Comprehensive Profit/(Loss) 543,878 (1,478,005)
Financial statements
2021 2020
$ $
Current Assets
Cash and cash equivalents 4,005,730 3,843,183
Financial asset - term deposits 3,275,803 3,259,316
Trade debtors and other assets 184,910 180,352
Total Current Assets 7,466,443 7,282,851
Non-Current Assets
Plant and equipment 1,919,503 2,247,039
Intangibles 202,368 199,264
Right of Use Asset 4,047,968 4,726,190
Total Non-Current Assets 6,169,839 7,172,493
Total Assets 13,636,282 14,455,344
Current Liabilities
Trade and other payables 528,236 1,146,967
Provisions 1,022,658 1,092,862
Lease liability 780,529 722,350
Total Current Liabilities 2,331,423 2,962,179
Non-Current Liabilities
Provisions 754,537 756,578
Lease liability 4,880,482 5,610,625
Total Non- Current Liabilities 5,635,019 6,367,203
Total Liabilities 7,966,442 9,329,382
Net Assets 5,669,840 5,125,962
Members’ Equity
Retained surplus 5,669,840 5,125,962
Total Members’ Equity 5,669,840 5,125,962
ENERGY AND WATER OMBUDSMAN (VIC TORIA) 61
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6 0 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
2021 2020
$ $
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Levy receipts from Members (inclusive of goods and services tax) 10,188,694 8,129,405
Payments to suppliers and employees (inclusive of goods and services tax) (9,095,863) (8,738,718)
Interest received and other income 76,831 197,941
Interest paid (204,371) (220,499)
Net cash provided by/ (used in) 965,291 (631,871)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
(Payments to) acquire / Proceeds from financial assets (16,487) (77,161)
Payments for plant and equipment and intangibles (104,371) (874,708)
Proceeds from lease incentives - 1,402,643
Net cash from / (used in) investing activities (120,858) 450,774
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Repayment of lease liabilities (589,412) (589,412)
Net cash used in financing activities (681,886) (589,412)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 162,547 (770,509)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the Financial Year 3,843,183 4,613,692
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the Financial Year 4,005,730 3,843,183
C A SHFLOW S TATEMENT
FOR THE YE AR ENDED 30 JUNE 2021
ABN: 57 070 516 175
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Interpreter service: 131 450 National Relay Service: 133 677
GO THROUGH OUR WEBSITEUse live chat or our complaint form www.ewov.com.au/contact-us WRITE TO US Reply Paid 469 Melbourne VIC 8060We accept letters in Braille. EMAIL US [email protected] FA X US 1800 500 549 (free fax)
FREE CALL
1800 500 509
HOW TO CONTACT EWOV
WE CAN HELP WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT ELECTRICITY, GAS OR WATER COMPANIES,
THAT A CUSTOMER HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO RESOLVE DIRECTLY WITH THE COMPANY.
OUR SERVICES ARE FREE AND AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.