Did the energy crisis that
hit Europe in 2022 come
to an end in 2024?
We cannot really say that it has ended. For the Mediation team,
2024 was almost as busy as 2023, when the number of mediation
cases doubled compared with 2022. Around 850 mediation cases
were received in 2024, an increase of 80% compared with 2022,
meaning that 1,060 cases were processed, an equivalent amount
to 2023, due to the backlog from 2023.
Why is this?
Firstly the government stopped providing aid to consumers as
well as gradually reducing the tarif f shield It can also be attrib
uted to the end of the benef icial threeyear f ixedprice contracts
taken out just before the 2022 crisis and the disappointment expe
rienced by customers when their contracts came up for renewal
postcrisis tarif fs have increased by 40 to 60 for all of them
Prices have not returned to the level they were at before the energy
crisis And f inally f ixedprice contracts taken out by professionals at
the height of the crisis are now less competitive amid falling energy
prices leading them to cancel or try and cancel their contracts
often resulting in high fees
In addition, 2024 has been dif ferent from previous years in two
respects:
- ENGIE Home Services has seen a sharp rise in mediation cases
(installation and maintenance of boilers, heat pumps, etc.): +37% in
2024 compared with 2023, bearing in mind that there had already
been a 50% increase in 2023 compared with 2022. This subsidi-
ary’s issues have led to its over-representation in overall mediation
cases, with the number of referrals increasing approximately two-
fold between 2022 and 2024.
- There has been a signif icant number of disputes involving small
businesses: the number of mediation cases remained virtually
stable between 2023 and 2024 but increased by 140% between
2022 and 2024 for the ENGIE Business Customers Division and
ENGIE Entreprises & Collectivités. It is important to remember
that “small” businesses, whose electricity meter has a power rating
of 36 kVA or less or whose gas consumption is less than 30000
kWh are subject to the provisions of the French Consumer Code
such as the 14month limit on backbilling of energy consumption
Therefore the Mediation team had to continue working in crisis
management mode to deal with the high number of mediation cases
The whole team rallied round and ENGIE provided us with additional
resources Despite the high number of referrals we worked hard to
maintain the quality of our analyses and our personalised approach
In view of the situation it was more important than ever for claim
ants to understand their situation and feel listened to
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank each of
my twelve colleagues for their hard work and commitment As a
result there has been an increase in both the level of satisfaction
97 an alltime high and the success rate of mediations 87
vs 84 in 2023
In terms of mediation, what lessons can we
learn from these two years of crisis?
Firstly, we should highlight the joint work of the Mediation team and
ENGIE, and particularly of the Consumer Division (DGP), which has
stepped up its ef forts within the customer service and national con-
sumer service departments. Thanks to their commitment, we have
been able to proactively anticipate and deal with many requests,
thus avoiding a massive inf lux of mediation referrals. The depart-
ment has therefore played a key role in ensuring that only really
complex cases requiring this last-resort form of amicable resolution
before litigation are referred to the Mediation team.
There has also been a change in the recommendations made. The
Ombudsman has issued generic recommendations, whose main
aim is to instigate a review of certain processes that were too
focused on “consumption as the explanation for rising bills.” Before
the energy price crisis, high energy bills were almost always caused
by problems with meters and consumption indexes. The proposed
recommendations, which provide real added value in terms of the
French Consumer Code, must be implemented to better account
for the shift towards “prices that explain the rise”: inform customers
as early as possible, and during the period when contractual infor-
mation is provided prior to contract renewal, of the right level of
monthly instalments for the coming year; align the annual adjust-
ment bills with contractual periods; inform customers about the
new prices, obviously, but also remind them of the prices under the
previous contract, so that they are more aware of the risks and can
get quotes from competitors, etc.
However, the Ombudsman’s ability to quickly raise awareness
among the ENGIE departments involved, at the very f irst sign of
trouble, has made the greatest impact. This process has been fol-
lowed with the DGP since late 2023. Based on a case presented
by the Ombudsman, which may demonstrate a wider breach of
certain contractual obligations, the DGP implemented key meas-
ures, awarding automatic compensation for all these contracts as
of February 2024, which greatly limited the potential escalation of
these disputes.
It is important to work together in times of crisis: Mediation
should not be the only outlet when anomalies occur, if he com-
pany is already aware of the problem.
We have gone from a culture of complaints
management that, before the crisis, focused on
increases in consumption to explain high bills,
to a culture where the sharp rise in prices alone
explains these hikes
Should the admissibility of mediation
cases be broadened to improve the
turnaround time for dispute resolution
Mediation is currently all the rage And some might think that it is
the ONLY solution for resolving all the complaints received by a
company However if complaints are sent to the mediation service
too early it will inexorably become a complaints handling service
and will no longer be able to apply the principles that make it so
ef fective: “Successful mediation hinges on proximity and attentive
listening, which means spending more time addressing disputes that
have not been resolved by the company. Customer services cannot
offer the same level of personalised service and expertise provided
by the Mediation team. Mediation therefore costs more per case than
complaints handling, unless less time is spent on building relation-
ships and attentive listening.”
Mediation should only be used to deal with complex cases. Its real
value lies in getting the company to handle its complaints properly,
not in replacing this service. While mediation is free for consumers,
it is f inanced by businesses, in accordance with the provisions of the
French Consumer Code. The Ombudsman for the ENGIE Group
thus holds ENGIE accountable for its performance, which, in this
case, should be measured by the decrease in mediation cases,
which is linked to the ef fectiveness of the recommendations for
improvement made each year to the company’s subsidiaries.
Are there going to be any changes
to the regulatory framework for
consumer mediation in France?
The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive is currently
under review at the European level. Corporate mediators have
provided feedback through the European Energy Mediators Group
(EEMG), both at the European and French levels. At this stage,
their input has been considered at the European level. In particu-
lar, mediation services risk becoming complaints departments if
independent mediation bodies are transformed into “subcontrac-
tors” for handling complaints on behalf of the company. It should
also be noted that the review of this Directive does not include the
principle of a waiting period prior to the appointment of a consumer
ombudsman. This would be counterintuitive in terms of the tech-
nical expertise required of an ombudsman, which is ref lected in
the solutions proposed. This knowledge of technical energy pro-
cesses, as well as billing, meter reading and the Energy Code, must
be associated with legal skills and an in-depth understanding of the
Consumer Code.
What is the outlook
for 2025?
Since November 2024, we have seen a sharp drop in the number of
referrals That would seem to conf irm that the crisis is coming to
an end Obviously I hope to return to a normal mode of operation
and move away from crisis management The aim for the ENGIE
Group Mediation team is to continue reducing the volume of
complaints on the ENGIE supplier side thus reducing the overall
number of complaints In 2023 we noted that the number of simple
complaints which can be handled directly by the Consumer Division
had fallen from 30 to 23 This downward trend is set to continue
Additionally the Mediation team is advocating for early consultation
before introducing new of fers or processes focusing on preven
tion rather than just remediation Finally in 2025 the Mediation
team hopes that its new online referral form will improve the quality
control process for referral admissibility by excluding inadmissi
ble referrals We are facilitating access to mediation by adapting to
new uses while at the same time improving the mediation conver
sion rate
A look back
at 2024
Reading time:
4 MINUTES
JEAN-PIERRE HERVÉ,
Ombudsman for the ENGIE Group.
“The 2022 energy crisis
has continued into 2024!”
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reports by
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