SSE mis-selling: Fury over energy giant that ripped off 1million customers: MPs call for fraud investigation as watchdog fines SSE £10.5m SSE director insists SSE is 'one of the UK's best companies' Energy watchdog Ofgem said it found 'failures at every stage of the sales process' across SSE's telephone, in-store and doorstep selling activities One of Britain's biggest energy giants was facing calls for a police investigation last night after it was found guilty of ripping off up to one million customers. An investigation by energy regulator Ofgem hit SSE with a £10.5million fine amid separate calls for the company's management team to be sacked. On a day of shame for the power industry, SSE was attacked for "failing its customers" through ruthless "mis-selling," either on people's doorsteps, over the telephone or on the high street. Hundreds of thousands of new customers were attracted to switch from other suppliers at the height of the racket - which lasted for three years - and many ended up paying higher tariffs. While the fine is the largest-ever handed out by Ofgem, it is a tiny fraction of the company's profits. Last year, it made annual pre-tax profits of £1.3billion. As MPs and consumer groups said the scandal was "fraud" and required a police investigation, it emerged that: ÷Not a single executive at the firm has been sacked or forced out of SSE, ÷The man in charge of SSE for the last decade will leave this summer with a pension pot of nearly £400,000 a year ÷Up to 2,000 of the victims were shoppers duped by SSE salesmen into signing up to the company under the M&S Energy brand ÷SSE is not compensating victims - merely paying them the difference between their previous deal and the new rip-off rate ÷Tories said the scandal was an "embarrassment" for Labour leader Ed Miliband who publicly praised SSE in the past ÷SSE was accused of "obstructing" the investigation by contesting every allegation against it ÷Other energy giants could also be in the spotlight with Ofgem investigating its rivals Scottish Power, Npower and E.ON SSE headquarters in Perth has been handed the largest ever penalty imposed on an energy provider Barry Gardiner, a Labour MP who also sits on the energy select committee, said: "The activities that SSE have engaged in appear to be nothing short of fraud. It would be appropriate for the regulator to refer this matter for further investigation by the police. Michael Fallon, the Energy Minister, said he had "rarely seen a worse case of consumers being misled so badly." Ofgem launched a probe in 2010 amid claims families, pensioners and other victims were encouraged to switch from their energy provider to SSE, lured by the prospect of saving money. But in fact they were switching to a deal with the company, formerly known as Scottish & Southern Energy, which was "more expensive." Pensioners Frank and Maureen Price, from Rotherham, told how they were left with huge debts after being persuaded to switch to SSE by a door-to-door salesman. The couple were told they would make substantial savings but have ended up paying hundreds of pounds extra every year after their tariff more than doubled from £61 a month to £158. Mr Price, 83, described their ordeal as "distressing" saying they can no longer afford to go on holiday and have had to cut out all luxuries. In another case, a woman, who was paying £1,600 a year for her energy bill, was told her bill would drop to £1,423. In fact, it jumped to £1,734. Sarah Harrison, senior partner at Ofgem, said: "SSE failed its customers, mis-sold to them and undermined trust in the energy supply industry." Ofgem said SSE's doorstep sales team was managed by people who "received a commission on sales." It said they "therefore had a financial interest in not reporting misbehaviour." SSE chief executive Ian Marchant unexpectedly announced his decision to resign in January while Ofgem was still investigating the scandal. He can look forward to a pension of nearly £400,000 a year. Yesterday SSE said it has written to around 970,000 of its customers who might have been misled into signing up as an energy customer. It has set aside a compensation pot of around £5million, and has already paid out around £400,000. The average payout is around £65. Other customers who suspect that they might also have been duped into switching to SSE were yesterday urged to get in touch with the company with their grievance. SSE, based in Perth, said it was "deeply regretful" of its actions, which Ofgem said began in 2009 and ended in September last year. Adam Scorer, director of policy at Consumer Focus, said: "This is not a case of one bad apple. The problems at SSE...represent a fundamental failure. Ofgem said it had decided against referring the matter to the police because it had not found evidence SSE had deliberately intended to mis-sell to its customers. Luciana Berger, the shadow minister for climate change, said: "It would be completely unacceptable for the energy bosses responsible for this scandal to get any kind of bonus when SSE announce their financial results later this year." Tory MP Peter Lilley added: "If I were a shareholder, I would be very surprised if the top management remained in place." An M&S Energy spokesman said the scandal has affected "less than one per cent of M&S Energy customers." Unlike the majority of its rivals, SSE remains a British-owned energy giant and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.