Biggest rise in energy complaints are about Scottish Power

Npower remains most complained about supplier but complaints about Scottish Power are climbing

Complaints about Scottish Power have doubled since the beginning of the year, the biggest rise of any large energy supplier, finds Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.

In the national charity’s latest energy complaints league table, energy supplier npower has remained at the bottom of the table for the second year in a row. The introduction of a new billing system for npower customers has caused complaints about them to rocket and Scottish Power is now seeing the same problems with its own system change.

At the other end of the table, SSE has remained the least complained about supplier. There has been a slight decrease in the number of complaints about npower, SSE and EDF Energy between April and June 2014.

The league table reveals:

• Npower still receive more complaints than all the other suppliers combined

• There are now almost twenty times as many complaints about npower as there are about SSE

• There were 256.0 complaints per every 100,000 Scottish Power customers in April to June 2014

Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy said:

“Households are paying the price for changes to billing systems. Late bills have led to many people complaining after they suddenly had to find an extra hundred pounds to cover costs. Shock bills can push people who are already struggling into real hardship.

“That complaints about npower have finally started stabilising is encouraging. Scottish Power customers are now facing a growing number of problems that npower customers will be all too familiar with.

“Whilst there is a real need for energy firms to overhaul poor billing systems, this should be managed so that customers’ problems are not left to get worse. Energy firms should be pro-actively identifying and helping customers who are affected and where they are needed offering repayment plans from the outset.

“Citizens Advice will continue to work with Scottish Power to address the growing number of complaints and we have raised our concerns with Ofgem. Trust in energy companies will never recover from the abysmal level it is at if they do not do more to tackle ongoing problems. Firms should be ensuring they deal with issues quickly and are sensitive to the many customers in difficult financial situations.”

Citizens Advice Scotland Chief Executive Margaret Lynch said:

“Across Scotland, people are still struggling to pay fuel bills. As we head into another grim winter, it’s clear that some of the big fuel companies still need to raise their game. Customers should not be suffering additional charges because of changes to billing systems.    

“Our league table gives consumers important information about how the different companies are performing, and we urge all customers in Scotland to stand up for their rights as consumers. People can compare how the different companies are performing, challenge unfair charges and get help if they are unable to pay their bills. The Citizens Advice service can help with free advice on all of these issues.”

In the latest energy complaints table below the best performing supplier is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

The energy complaints table for the previous three month period is below. The figures for npower and SSE have been readjusted since they were last published to reflect improved data-gathering.

Tips for energy customers

• Complain to your energy supplier as soon as you experience a problem.

• If you have not received a bill but are expecting one, try to put money aside to you are able to pay when you do eventually get the bill.

• Energy companies are only allowed to back bill for energy you used in the last 12 months, anything older than that should be written-off where the supplier is at fault.  

• Ask for some sort of compensation for the time you spent on trying to sort out problems and the financial impact of late billing for example reduce the balance of the bill and cover the cost of phone calls.  

• Npower customers who have received a late bill can contact the supplier on 0800 9759065

• Scottish Power has increased the opening hours of its call centre to 10pm to help deal with customer queries.  

• Suppliers must take into account ability to pay when setting debt repayment levels.  

• You can get advice from the Citizens Advice energy consumer line on 03454 04 05 06.

• If you are struggling to resolve your complaint you can raise it with the energy ombudsman on 0330 440 1624.

Notes to editors:

1. Ofgem and npower originally provided different figures for npower’s total number of customers for the period of January to March 2014 because of the addition of Utillity Warehouse customers. The extra customers have now been removed from npower’s data and there has been no impact on overall standings. The table for January to March 2014 showed npower’s overall ratio as 592.4; it has now been readjusted to 664.8.

2. In October 2013 a data gathering tool for the league table was amended which led to a lower ratio for SSE. This change has not led to an impact on overall standings. The table for January to March 2014 showed SSE’s overall ratio as 34.1; it has now been readjusted to 38.7.

3. In the table for October to December 2013 Scottish Power’s overall ratio was 100.5.

4. Data is weighted ratio per 100,000 customers.  Weightings have been allocated to reflect the seriousness of the complaint and the time and effort spent by the consumer to get their problem resolved. The weightings in the model place greater emphasis on situations where the consumer has had to repeatedly contact their supplier, or another agency, because the company has failed to deal with their problem. The measures used in the model are outlined in the methodology .

5. Citizens Advice now holds Consumer Futures a statutory duty to provide information to consumers. The performance model to accurately illustrate relative energy company performance which will give consumers access to the information they need to make informed switching decisions. We believe it is essential that the performance model reflects all elements of the new complaint handling regime and uses a basket of measures including those from independent bodies.

6. This year the Citizens Advice service celebrates its 75th anniversary. We’ve planned a year of activity running from January to December 2014. Contact the press office on 03000 231 080, or via email at press.office@citizensadvice.org.uk , to find out more.

7. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website .

8. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

9. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk . You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk

10. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers

11. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.1 million clients on 6.6 million problems from April 2012 to March 2013. For full 2012/2013 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends

12. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 22,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.