Government ministers have slammed a ScottishPower warranty scheme which allegedly failed to pay over £75 million to hundreds of thousands of customers in the UK.

In their report, the group of 28 MP's claim the energy supplier not only sustained the scandal for a number of years, but actively sought to cover it up.

The PowerPlan Cashback Promise was sold to 625,000 customers who bought white goods in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It promised a refund to consumers if they didn't claim their warranty within five years.

However, evidence from liquidators, regulators, former customers and employees claims many customers were left without refunds after PowerPlan's stores, along with the energy firms insurance division (Domestic Appliance Insurance), were sold to Powerhouse, which eventually went into administration.

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Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), Andrew Percy MP, said: "There is no doubt in our mind that selling a Cashback Promise that was neither financially capable of functioning, nor designed to deliver, is effectively a fraud on the public - and they have been covering it up ever since.

"Indeed, we do not believe it was in ScottishPower's gift to sell on that promise (which was to their customers) to another retailer in the first place. It is high time they were held accountable and I look forward to taking this report to our meeting with the Minister next week (27 April 2016), I am sure he will agree with our assessment."

Alan Campbell, the whistleblower who brought Parliament's attention to the matter, added: "This group has now seen with their own eyes an evidence trail that stretches back to the late-1990s and drawn their own conclusions.

"The fact that ScottishPower have refused to properly engage with this investigation, indeed refusing to turn up to the evidence session, only speaks to their guilt. I only hope that now in light of this report that Parliament acts to drag ScottishPower out into the open to truly account for themselves."

(LM)