Energy complaints drop to 3-year low

Suppliers paid £3.3m in 2016 to make up for service failings

New figures from Ofgem and the Energy Ombudsman show that complaints about energy suppliers fell by 32 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year.

The drop takes complaint levels to their lowest point for three years.

There were 3.5 million complaints about energy suppliers and supply issues in 2016, down from 5 million in 2015.

Furthermore, for large and medium sized suppliers, most complaints were successfully dealt with internally – without the need for them to be referred to the Energy Ombudsman.

Despite the improvement in complaints handling however, suppliers were still required to hand back £3.3m to consumers over the course of 2016 after interventions from the Ombudsman.

Chief Ombudsman, Lewis Shand Smith, said the “steady” decline in the volume of energy-related complaints is “encouraging” and “indicates that providers are improving their service and complaints handling”.

However, he cautioned against complacency and observed that consumers are “rightly” “more demanding of their energy suppliers than ever before”.

Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem added: “We are seeing clear signs that some suppliers are competing harder on customer service. This is good, as it puts pressure on poor-performing companies to up their game or lose market share.”

Nolan wants to see all suppliers take steps to bring down the volume of complaints further however and alluded to the regulator’s ability to hand down big financial penalties for those companies it considers t be delivering poor service.

 The drop in complants figures comes on the heels on evidence from Ofgem that switching rates are increasing in the domestic energy retail sector.