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Extra Energy has scored worst for complaints handling for the third quarter in a row.
Extra Energy has come bottom of the Citizens Advice league table of the 22 largest energy firms in Great Britain as customers continue to report billing problems.
The independent supplier has improved on its score from the last quarter with 1505.7 complaints per 100,000 customers, compared to 1791.2.
Extra Energy was followed by another independent supplier, iSupply, which saw its complaints ratio more than double. The firm dropping to second from bottom in the table from 16th place in April to June 2016.
New supplier to the table, Places for People Energy has replaced SSE at the top with a record score of 19.0 complaints per 100,000 customers.
Scottish Power and Npower continue to improve and move up the rankings with complaints ratios dropping by about a third on the last quarter. The improvements come after both firms were fined by Ofgem earlier this year for customer service failings caused by the introduction of new billing systems.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: “People’s time and money is being wasted trying to get energy firms to sort out complaints.
“All energy suppliers should be delivering a first rate service as standard and resolving their customers’ problems quickly instead of letting them drag on.
“It’s good to see that some energy firms are starting to get to grips with billing issues that have been causing such a headache for their customers. It’s crucial that all suppliers act fast to clear up these problems sooner rather than later.”
Extra Energy, which became the twelfth supplier obligated under the Energy Company Obligation (Eco) this year, blamed billing problems for its poor performance handling complaints earlier this year. Citizens Advice reports cases of customers not getting a bill for over a year. Extra Energy customers also had problems switching to another supplier – with delays getting final bills and problems with money being taken after accounts had been shut down.
The quarterly league table from Citizens Advice measures how well energy suppliers deal with complaints and scores are calculated based on the seriousness of the complaint against them and how long it took to resolve.
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