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A new billing system is behind the doubling in the number of complaints made about Scottish Power.
Complaints about the supplier increased from 46.2 per 100,000 customers for the period of June to September 2013, to more than 100 per 100,000 for the final quarter of 2013, according to figures from Citizen’s Advice.
A spokesperson from Scottish Power said part of the increase was caused by “our people adapting to our new £200m customer system”.
British Gas saw the number of complaints it received spike to more than 250 complaints per 100,000 following the implementation of its new billing system in 2006.
Npower is still struggling following the introduction of its new billing system, with the supplier remaining the bottom of the complaints league for all of 2013, with the latest figures showing 306.2 complaints per 100,000 customers.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said there has been a “clear pattern” between new billing systems and problems for consumers.
She added the introducing a new billing system “should not mean a huge headache for consumers” and the suppliers “can learn from each other to avoid the same mistakes being made time after time”.
Scottish Power told Utility Week: “All our customers have been migrated and the new platform is now operational,” and a spokesperson added “over the last few weeks we have started to implement some real improvements for our customers”.
The supplier also stated “a higher than ever call volume over the winter” as they settled mis-selling issues, contributed to the increase in the number of complaints.
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