Ranked: The best and worst UK energy suppliers
The head of Citizens Advice has called for stricter requirements on energy companies as “far too many” struggle to give their customers good service.
Gillian Guy said that a large number of companies are letting their customers down, as the consumer champion released its quarterly rankings.
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A quarter of companies ranked did not even reach 2.5 stars out of a possible five, Citizens Advice said.
SSE, one of the Big Six, topped the list, while challenger Nabuh Energy came last.
| Top 5 Energy suppliers | |
| SSE | 4.6 |
| Affect | 4.5 |
| Breeze | 4.45 |
| So Energy | 4.3 |
| Igloo Energy | 4.3 |
Citizens Advice said companies were regularly suddenly increasing direct debits, even after customers had closed their accounts.
They also find regular problems with prepayment meters, inaccurate bills, failure to return credit refunds, and suppliers that were difficult to contact.
| Bottom 5 energy suppliers | |
| Outfox the Market | 2.1 |
| Toto | 2.1 |
| Utilita | 1.8 |
| Eversmart | 1.8 |
| Nabuh Energy | 1.65 |
“The energy supply market is not the free-for-all it once was. But there is still a big gap between those firms who provide excellent customer service, and a significant proportion who are letting consumers down,” Guy said.
“There … need to be stricter ongoing requirements and monitoring to tackle existing companies who are not serving their customers well. ”
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Matthew Vickers, chief executive at the Energy Ombudsman, said: “It’s worrying that so many suppliers are receiving poor ratings for customer service.
“Our own complaints data reinforces the picture of an energy market that is very much split, with some firms providing excellent service and others causing significant and unacceptable levels of consumer detriment.”