Energy firms have been warned they must “double down” on customer service ahead of a challenging winter for households.
Citizens Advice – the official watchdog for energy consumers – said firms “must go further” to support households, despite finding a slow improvement in customer service over the last quarter.
Price cap rise adds pressure
Households are facing heightened winter pressure from energy bills after regulator Ofgem raised its price cap by 4% to a three-year high, taking effect from October 1 when bills will rise by £60 per year – or £5 per month – to £1,723 for the average household using both electricity and gas.
Analysts have forecast a further 9% hike from January.
Customer service ratings show mixed results
The charity’s latest ratings of firms, covering April to June, shows the median score rose slightly from 3.26 out of five in the first quarter to 3.4.
Average call wait times dropped from 77 to 68 seconds.
Outfox Energy took the top spot with a score of 4.03, followed by 100Green (3.90) and E.ON Next (3.71) – which was the highest-ranking of the “big six” suppliers.
TruEnergy came in last with a score of 1.38, followed by Utilita at 2.53.
Widespread worry and debt
A survey for the charity suggests more than 10 million households – or 37% of Britons – are worried about how they will afford their energy bills this winter.
The charity found 3.5 million households are in energy debt – either behind on their bills or without gas or electricity because they cannot afford to top up their prepayment meter.
Gillian Cooper, director of energy at Citizens Advice, said: “It’s positive to see higher levels of customer service in the energy sector, but companies can’t afford to be complacent. These latest ratings cover a quieter period for energy suppliers, when lower costs mean people are less likely to need support.
“As we face another difficult winter of rising prices, suppliers must ramp up their efforts. For people in debt, unable to afford a meter top-up, or worrying about whether they can afford to heat their homes, customer service isn’t just helpful – it can be a vital lifeline when the temperature drops.”
A Utilita spokesman said: “We welcome the data published in Citizens Advice’s latest star rating, which shows Utilita leading the sector for low call wait times and ranking among the best for correspondence and smart metering – all important benchmarks of good customer service.
“However, we have consistently warned that categorising affordability concerns as complaints is misleading.
“The Citizens Advice extra help unit primarily supports financially vulnerable people at risk of self-disconnection, so it is unsurprising that prepay customers are more likely to seek support. For a smart prepay specialist like Utilita, this inevitably skews our complaint score – the most heavily weighted measure – and, in turn, our overall ranking.”
BMG Research surveyed 4,556 people across England, Wales and Scotland between July 23 and 28.
