We’ve just published the latest stats for complaints to the Big Six energy suppliers. And the figures show that they’re getting more of them than ever. If there was ever a time for change, it’s now.
The Big Six energy suppliers received a staggering 1.7 million complaints between January-March 2014. That’s a 15% increase over the same period in 2013. It’s also the highest number of complaints received in a single quarter since records began in 2012.
Npower tops the table, getting 83 complaints for every 1,000 customers, while Scottish Power received the lowest number, with only 13 complaints per 1,000. Complaints to both SSE and British Gas have doubled in the past six months, at about 30 per 1,000 customers.
In response to these latest stats, an Npower spokeswoman told us:
‘While we have seen issues with our billing system, which have affected some customers, we’re now beginning to make progress. We’re billing 95% of our customers on time and in the past three weeks we have reduced our total complaints by 32% as well as resolving 88% of complaints within 24 hours.’
The energy to complain
The numbers don’t lie – energy companies are clearly letting down their customers with poor service. And this isn’t doing any good for the low levels of consumer trust in the market.
Our consumer insight tracker shows that only one in five people trust energy companies and it’s been at this low level for a while. If suppliers want to start improving this, they need to up their game now rather than waiting for the results of the proposed competition review.
Why do you think complaints are on the rise? Have you complained to an energy company recently? What was your experience? Did you end up going to the Ombudsman?
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