The total number of energy complaints has halved since 2014, but customers who make a complaint are less satisfied with how their supplier handles it compared to two years ago, according to Ofgem’s biennial complaints survey.
The suppliers who came out worst in the survey – Npower, Scottish Power and First Utility – recorded the highest proportion by far of “very dissatisfied” complainants. Even the suppliers who fared best – SSE, EON and EDF Energy – failed to show any significant improvement in overall complaint handling since 2014.
The numbers of complainants who plan to switch has gone up since the last survey, with 52% of all complainants already switched or planning to switch as a result of their experience. This compares to 44% of domestic complainants and 47% among micro-businesses when in 2014. Suppliers with the worst record on handling complaints face the biggest exodus of customers, with 71% of Npower and 59% of Scottish Power domestic customers surveyed who complained already switched or planning to switch as a result of their experience, as did 63% of medium sized suppliers’ complainants.
Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem has written to all suppliers surveyed to demand an improvement. He has also written to First Utility and Utility Warehouse asking them to conduct and publish a thorough independent audit of their complaint handling procedures. In December last year Npower had to pay out £26m as a result of its billing and complaint handling failings. In April this year Scottish Power had to pay out £18m for similar failures following our intervention.
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