Under the new requirements, customers will receive an automatic £30 payment from suppliers if they are switched by mistake, if their switch takes longer than 15 working days, or if their final bill doesn’t arrive within six weeks.

Ofgem said the news will give customers further peace of mind that they will be compensated if something goes wrong when they switch. They should also serve as a wake-up call for suppliers to cut out problems for customers and get switching right first time.

Mary Starks, executive director for consumers and markets at Ofgem, said: More customers are switching than ever, with a record 6.4 million changing supplier in 2019. But we also know that a minority can still experience problems when they switch.

“As part of our commitment to protecting consumers and enabling competition, we are introducing these new standards to give customers further peace of mind, and to challenge suppliers to get it right first time.

“Going forward, we will continue working with suppliers and consumer groups to deliver our programme for faster and more reliable switching and ensure these arrangements are fit for the future”.

Meanwhile, the regulator has also removed the provisional order against Foxglove Energy Supply Limited.

Earlier this week, Ofgem issued a provisional order to Foxglove Energy Supply to pay £602,930 in full for the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme in accordance with section 25(2) of the Electricity Act 1989.

FIT licensees are required to make FIT Levelisation Payments on both a quarterly and annual basis. Foxglove was late making quarterly payments in FIT year 9 quarter 2 and quarter 4. The provisional order required Foxglove to make the payment of its FIT Year 10 Quarter 3 Levelisation Payment, in full, by the deadline.

The company has since paid its outstanding FIT balance ahead of the 12th February deadline, meaning the provisional order is no longer in place.