It is only very recently that the regulators have taken enforcement action against, or issued penalties to companies for, poor communication with customers. We asked the regulators what action they had taken to improve customers’ experience of communicating with their suppliers. Ofgem told us that a few years previously it had taken compliance action against a supplier that was an outlier in terms of excessive call waiting times and call abandonment rates, and suggested that this contributed to a sector wide improvement.49 Ofcom told us that it was concluding an investigation into a company’s customer service practices.50 Since the evidence session, Ofcom has written to us explaining that it issued a £28 million fine to Virgin Media for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling contracts or switching providers through its communications practices, such as unnecessary or excessive call transfers and repeatedly keeping customers on hold.51 Ofwat told us that it opened its first investigation using the customer-focused license condition earlier this year to South East Water but, at the time of our evidence session, had not yet issued any penalties to companies for failing to proactively communicate 43 Q 12 44 Q 12 45 Q 4 46 Q 7 47 Q 26 48 Q 7 49 Q 39 50 Q 45 51 Letter from the CEO of Ofcom relating to an investigation into Virgin Media, 8 July 2026 14 with consumers.52 Since the evidence session, Ofwat has confirmed a £30.5 million redress package with South East Water, following three investigations into the company. One of these investigations was launched under Ofwat’s customer-focused license condition, and Ofwat found that the company failed to ensure that affected customers were provided with the right information and appropriate support during supply incidents.53 52 Q 89 53 Ofwat, Enforcement case into South East Water’s customer service, 15 July 2026 15 2 Defining and understanding vulnerability Defining vulnerability, and variation in outcomes