The Sun newspaper claims energy deals offered by Age UK with supplier E.On may have been much more expensive than the cheapest offers from the firm.
In return, the Sun alleged, the charity had received about £6m from E.On.
Age UK has rejected the allegations, while E.On said its tariffs were competitively priced.
The Sun claimed that
Age UK recommended a special rate from E.On which would typically cost
pensioners £1,049 for the year - £245 more than its cheapest rate in
2015.
It also alleged Age UK received about £41 from energy supplier E.On for every person signed up, amounting to £6m a year.
BBC
personal finance correspondent Simon Gompertz said it was standard
practice for price comparison websites to receive a commission for
passing on business.
Age UK would not comment on any payments it
had received from E.On. But it said E.On "have been generous supporters
of our charity over and above the number of customers on the tariff".
Switching option
The charity added it had been working "openly and above board" with E.On for 14 years.
A spokesman said: "We strongly reject the allegations and interpretation of figures in this article.
"Energy
prices change all the time and we have always advised older people to
look out for new good deals and we will continue to do so."
E.On said the Sun had made a comparison between two different types of tariffs.
It
said the Age UK product referenced by the paper as costing pensioners
about £1,049 annually was a two-year fixed deal which, although more
expensive than its cheapest rate, was favoured by some customers because
it provided longer-term certainty over potential price increases.
E.On
said: "We always work to make sure our tariffs, for all customers, are
competitively priced and that is further evidenced by the fact that our
current Age UK tariff was the UK's cheapest product of its type in the
UK when it was launched, a two-year fixed deal, and when we launched our
current one-year fixed product, it was also the cheapest in the UK."
It
added its customers could switch tariffs at any time without any charge
being applied and sign up to be alerted to potentially better deals
when they became available.
In a statement, Energy Secretary
Amber Rudd said: "People expect a fair deal when it comes to their
energy bills, not a rough deal.
"I take very seriously this
allegation that Britain's pensioners are being misled, so immediately
contacted Ofgem who will now investigate this urgently and report back
to me."
Ofgem said its rules required energy companies to treat consumers fairly when they were marketing and selling energy.
It said: "Ofgem has a track record of punishing firms who mislead consumers and we will look at carefully at these claims."
Under scrutiny
Last month, E.On announced a 5.1% reduction in its standard gas price for residential customers.
At the time, it said it had Britain's cheapest fixed energy tariff.
Energy firms have been cutting prices recently in response to the falling prices of wholesale energy.
However, critics say that they have not been quick enough to pass those falls on to consumers.
The
Competition and Market Authority (CMA) is still examining whether the
industry needs reforming to improve competition between suppliers.
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