Octopus dominates energy supplier star ratings

Octopus Energy has dominated the latest Citizens Advice star ratings table, topping the list and seeing two of its white label brands also ranked in the top five.

The consumer charity’s quarterly ratings rank domestic retailers according to how good their customer service is, including number of complaints to third parties and average call centre wait times.

Octopus topped the table in Q1 2023 and scored an overall rating of 3.65 out of five, while Utilita has come bottom and has once again taken aim at the rankings, likening them to “comparing apples with bananas”.

Affect Energy and Co-op Energy, two companies powered by Octopus, came fourth and fifth respectively. This is a significant improvement from the previous quarter when Affect came 20^th and Co-op came 19^th.

Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, chief product officer at Octopus, said: “It’s the job of everyone at Octopus Energy to look after customers, from my boss our CEO and founder Greg Jackson, down to our wonderful operations teams. We’re now the UK’s second largest energy supplier, and with over 5 million customers, we can’t say we always get it right but I’m so proud to see three Octopus Energy brands in the top five of the prestigious Citizens Advice rankings. We’re showing that a cleaner, fairer energy system can also deliver outstanding customer service – and I’m always in awe of our team who take such amazing care of our customers every day.”

Shell Energy, which earlier this year announced its intention to quit the UK market, came second while Outfox the Market ranked third.

Despite its good showing in the star ratings, it was recently confirmed that Outfox will pay out £1.8 million after repeatedly failing to provide Ofgem with appropriate information when required.

In July 2022 the company was banned from acquiring new customers when Ofgem ruled that it lacked sufficient cash to cover its Renewables Obligation and sufficient hedging to limit its exposure to volatile wholesale energy prices. This ban has since been lifted.

Elsewhere So Energy, a supplier which in the past has consistently ranked highly in the star ratings, slipped from first place in Q4 2022 to 14^th in the latest rankings.

The supplier, which had an overall score of 2.4, had 157.6 complaints to third parties per 10,000 customers. The only other retailer to get more complaints was bottom-ranked Utilita with 207.3.

Prepay specialist Utilita has previously been critical of the rankings, taking issue with the methodology Citizens Advice uses to calculate the scores.

Following the publication of the latest results, a Utilita spokesperson said: “The Citizens Advice supplier ratings are erroneous and incredibly misleading for consumers as they compare Utilita – a specialist Smart PAYG supplier – against the same criteria as mainstream credit suppliers. It’s like comparing apples with bananas!

“Utilita was named as the UK’s second-best energy supplier by Which? in its 2022 customer survey which, during one of the hardest years for households, clearly demonstrates our ongoing commitment to our customers.”