37% of energy complaints were live for over a month in Q2

Almost two fifths of complaints submitted to energy companies have been live for more than one month, Ofgem’s latest consumer perception survey has found.

The report, commissioned by both the regulator and Citizens Advice, also reveals consumer satisfaction in the complaints handling process took a dip in Q2 2020.

The quarterly survey monitors domestic consumers’ perceptions about the quality of service in the energy market. Ofgem then uses this information to support its monitoring and compliance activities.

It found that 37 per cent of complaints took a month or more to resolve.

Furthermore, the report found that 30 per cent said the complaints process was ongoing, 30 per cent said they had reached the end of the process and 30 per cent had simply given up pursuing the complaint.

Meanwhile satisfaction with the handling of complaints has decreased over the period by almost a quarter (23 per cent) to 24 per cent.

Lower satisfaction rates were also registered for the outcome of a complaint, 58 per cent said they were satisfied compared to 66 per cent in Q1, and also with the time to deal with a complaint, 20 per cent compared to 25 per cent in the previous quarter.

Responding to the data Ed Dodman, director of regulatory affairs at the Energy Ombudsman, said: “It’s concerning that levels of customer satisfaction around complaint handling and complaint outcomes seem to have decreased, and that a significant proportion of survey respondents reported giving up pursuing their complaint.

”Lockdown, when the research was carried out, was a challenging time for companies and consumers alike. This clearly had an effect on perceptions of how well complaints were managed, as suppliers prioritised their activities to focus on supporting vulnerable customers.

“We will continue to use our insight from lockdown and beyond to support companies to improve their complaint-handling processes, and to encourage customers who aren’t getting satisfactory resolutions to consider bringing the matter to us.”

Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, said: “The energy sector has the worst levels of consumer satisfaction for essential service providers. It’s clear from the survey data that when people make a complaint, they often feel they don’t get results fast enough, or a satisfactory outcome. This trend is getting worse.

“We recognise that these are challenging times for suppliers, but the problems people face trying to resolve complaints predates the pandemic. Suppliers must look to address this long-standing problem.”

Coronavirus has also impacted consumer perceptions, with a noticeable decline in the satisfaction with smart meter installations, from 80 per cent in Q1 to 72 per cent and Ofgem highlighted how many installations were paused during lockdown.

Elsewhere, while awareness of the energy price cap remains low, is continuing to improve. Awareness of the cap improved by 5 per cent in Q2, from 22 per cent in the previous quarter.

Informed awareness of the cap has also continued to improve over the past three quarters, with 20 per cent saying they were aware the cap and understood what it was for, compared to just 15 per cent in Q3 2019.

Overall there has been a significant increase in those who are satisfied with their supplier. Q2 saw 77 per cent satisfied, up from 73 per cent in Q1 and the highest satisfaction recorded over the last seven quarters.