Customer awareness of support schemes ‘worryingly low’

Customer awareness of the support schemes utility companies provide is “worryingly low” and suppliers must do more to raise it, customer solutions provider Echo Managed Services has warned.

Research by the company revealed that just 10.4 per cent of customers are aware of priority services registers and 31.5 per cent know about the warm home discount scheme.

In its “counting the cost of debt recovery” report, the company also found 21.8 per cent of customers are aware they can access special discounted prices if they find themselves in a vulnerable situation and just under a third (32 per cent) are aware of flexible payment plans.

Vulnerability is becoming an increasingly pertinent issue for utility companies, as they come under growing regulatory pressure to better support customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Water regulator Ofwat has made affordability one of the four key themes of its PR19 price review. It has insisted water companies demonstrate how they intend to provide flexible support and services for customers.

Meanwhile, energy regulator Ofgem has warned that energy suppliers will be “called to account” if they fail to provide vulnerable customers with the “proper care” they deserve.

In its report, Echo said that although regulatory pressure is expected to “drive positive change”, providers should “look beyond regulatory compliance to bring about widespread transformation”.

The firm called on the utility sector to “more actively promote the range of services they offer” among all their customers.

“As reputation and trust become more intrinsically linked to brand value, community support must never just be a box-ticking exercise, but a concrete social consideration,” it said.