Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
New research has revealed that energy is the worst sector in the UK for debt collection, compared with other service providers.
The survey from customer service solutions firm Echo Managed Services, found that consumers scored energy providers poorly due to inaccurate billing and deployment of overly aggressive tactics and following recovery procedures which make customers feel embarrassed.
Customers scored local authorities and credit card companies just below energy companies and rated retailers and banks as most likely to deploy best practice debt recovery processes.
Echo Managed Services customer service director Monica Mackintosh said: “Our research revealed a number of potentially concerning aspects in how debt is being collected across the UK, particularly in certain sectors.
“It’s concerning that many customers are still being caused additional distress when in arrears in many instances, when in fact many feel incredibly guilty already.”
The research also revealed that 63 per cent of UK adults had experienced debt recovery procedures, with forgetting to pay being the top reason for late payments.
A further 16 per cent had paid late because the bill was higher than expected.
The report said: “Companies must balance the long-term lifetime value of a customer against a short term payment gain that may lead to the customer choosing to switch supplier.”
Please login or Register to leave a comment.