Recipient

npower

First report 1 Oct 2013•Latest report 1 Oct 2013

Recipient record

Reports, concerns and published responses

Private and voluntary organisations · Company. This page brings together reports naming this recipient and response statements clearly connected to concerns raised in those reports.

Reports: 1
Published responses: 0%
Concerns addressed: 0
Stated actions: 0

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

Evidence profile

Report topics

Share of this recipient’s reports compared with all other recipients.

0%published responses found

0stated actions described

Topic comparisons are not available in the current evidence snapshot.

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from npower linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

1 Oct2013
Leicester City and South Leicestershire
Concerns raised6
1. Failure of customer services to provide assistance to consumers in difficulty
2. Failure to recognise vulnerable consumers
3. Failure to provide required customer protection to vulnerable consumers
1. Lack of permanent, industry-wide consumer protection
2. Failure to empower personnel to halt disconnection
3. Failure to report consumer-protection failings and relevant deaths to oversight bodies
Responses linked to these concerns
Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.

No linked response statements
No action or position from this recipient is clearly linked to the concerns in this report.
AI-generated summary

Michael Joseph Hirrell · Prevention of Future Deaths report

This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

Report summary

Michael Joseph Hirrell died from carbon monoxide poisoning between 18 and 25 January 2013 after using a borrowed generator at his home following disconnection of the electricity supply. The principal concerns were that his vulnerability was not recognised or protected during the disconnection, staff did not feel empowered to halt it, and wider consumer-protection arrangements may not prevent similar deaths.

Read the report on judiciary.uk
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure of customer services to provide assistance to consumers in difficulty
Wider context from the report
“2. Although all 3 personnel present on the morning (Warrant Officer, locksmith and meter engineer) had concerns regarding Mr Hirrell, no one felt empowered to halt the disconnection and, despite efforts by the Warrant Officer, customer services at npower were unable to assist with his predicament. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to recognise vulnerable consumers
Wider context from the report
“1. Mr Hirrell’s presence was recognised by npower representatives before the power supply was disconnected, and he was noted to look unwell, be in receipt of welfare benefits, have no credit on his mobile telephone and to have no gas supply (and therefore no source of heat or light to his home). Notwithstanding this, he was not recognised to be a “vulnerable person”. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to provide required customer protection to vulnerable consumers
Wider context from the report
“3. Mr Hirrell was not afforded customer protection under the license agreement, or under the Energy UK Safety Net as a vulnerable person, which he clearly and unequivocally was. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Lack of permanent, industry-wide consumer protection
Wider context from the report
“5. Steps taken by npower since Mr Hirrell’s death was brought to their attention are (while welcome) not permanent, nor industry wide, and therefore future deaths may occur if matters are not resolved to introduce a more robust form of consumer protection. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to empower personnel to halt disconnection
Wider context from the report
“2. Although all 3 personnel present on the morning (Warrant Officer, locksmith and meter engineer) had concerns regarding Mr Hirrell, no one felt empowered to halt the disconnection and, despite efforts by the Warrant Officer, customer services at npower were unable to assist with his predicament. ”
Open source report
Source evidence
How this individual concern was interpreted
PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to npower; that does not assign responsibility.
PFD Monitor interpretation
Failure to report consumer-protection failings and relevant deaths to oversight bodies
Wider context from the report
“4. Ofgem were unaware of this death until advised of the circumstances by this office; no contact has been made directly with Energy UK but npower were unable to offer any reassurances at inquest hearing that the circumstances of this tragic death were reported back either in routine audit feedback, or as a special case, given the failings of the system for consumer protection. ”
Open source report

Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Concerns raised6

Failure of customer services to provide assistance to consumers in difficulty

Failure to recognise vulnerable consumers

Failure to provide required customer protection to vulnerable consumers

Lack of permanent, industry-wide consumer protection

Failure to empower personnel to halt disconnection

Failure to report consumer-protection failings and relevant deaths to oversight bodies