What now for the people who were misled by SSE?

Below pasted from The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 – Statutory Instrument: 1277.

Note that the entire contents of SCHEDULE 1 are Criminal Offences ! Never mind Ofgem or the Energy Ombudsman (latter as funded by the energy industry) as are not listed in the Regulations as having the Duty to Enforce those Regulations.

You will of course need evidence (he said / she said – is not evidence).

SCHEDULE 1 Regulation 3(4)(d)
Commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair

25. Conducting personal visits to the consumer’s home ignoring the consumer’s request to leave or not to return, except in circumstances and to the extent justified to enforce a contractual obligation.

26. Making persistent and unwanted solicitations by telephone, fax, e-mail or other remote
media except in circumstances and to the extent justified to enforce a contractual obligation.

Indeed what you say is correct and we are going to have to wait for Government decision on the Law Commission recommendations to simplify matters of redress affordable to / by consumers.

The Joint Report by the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission considers the redress available to consumers who have been the victims of misleading or aggressive practices by traders.

Sanctions against such practices are set out in the Consumer Protection from
Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (the Regulations) – Statutory Instrument: 1277.

The Regulations concern public enforcement rather than private redress. They do not give consumers the right to start civil actions to obtain compensation or other remedies. Instead,
consumers must rely on existing private law doctrines, such as the law of misrepresentation and duress. This is problematic: the law of misrepresentation is complex and uncertain; while the law of duress leaves gaps in protection. Misleading and aggressive trade practices are common and lead to a high level of consumer detriment.

Your suggestion certainly has merit but is perhaps a little OTT / time and cost consuming since legislation exists to prohibit unfair trading practices – the problem is that such is not being observed / implemented by traders.

Perhaps an alternative would be to impress upon the trader’s workforce, that they have committed offences as well as their employer. Clearly employees are in a vulnerable position and do / would therefore follow employers instructions / policy.

Perhaps appearance at a Criminal Court with at least a strong warning issued against further repetition of offence (as involves fine and / or imprisonment – subject to offence) may just get the message across to them AND collectively to apply pressure from within the company to let the top dogs know that placing employees in such position is unacceptable.

Following paste from Statutory Instrument 1277.

Offences committed by bodies of persons
15.—(1) Where an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is proved—

(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the body, or
(b) to be attributable to any neglect on his part, the officer as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) In paragraph (1) a reference to an officer of a body corporate includes a reference to—
(a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer; and
(b) a person purporting to act as a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer.