SSE named best in class among big six, but challenger Breeze takes top spot
SSE has the best customer service of the big six energy suppliers, it was revealed today, as smaller challengers dominated the top five.
Citizens Advice rated SSE, which was recently bought out by Ovo, as the second-best for customer service in Britain, one step below first-place Breeze.
Read more: SSE sells energy services business to Ovo in £500m deal
The list measures several indicators, including bill accuracy, call waiting times, and complaint handling.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy warned that there is are large differences between firms at the bottom and top.
“There is still a big gap between those firms who provide an excellent service to consumers, and those who are letting people down,” she said.
“Attention-grabbing low tariffs can be a good deal, but we recommend looking deeper than just the headline price when shopping around for the best energy deals.”
“We’ve seen six energy suppliers go bust this year. In our experience, when a company is struggling, customer service is often the first thing to suffer.”
EDF Energy came in sixth, the most well-placed big six energy supplier after SSE.
Read more: SSE in talks to sell energy retail business to Ovo Energy
Igloo, So and Engie also hit the top five, while Ecotricity, Green Star, Toto, Utilita, and Nabuh lingered by the bottom.
Around a dozen energy suppliers have gone out of business in the last two years after they were hit by a series of pressures on the industry. So far this year Economy Energy was the largest of these, with 237,000 customers. It collapsed in January.