Record level of satisfaction with smart meters

More than 70 per cent of consumers say they are satisfied with their smart meter, the highest level recorded, Ofgem’s latest consumer perception survey has found.

The energy regulator’s latest quarterly survey, commissioned jointly with Citizens Advice, polled more than 3,200 domestic consumers in Q3 2020.

In total, 71 per cent said they were satisfied with their smart meter.

Previously, between Q1 2019 and Q2 2020 the number of people satisfied remained consistently between 64-67 per cent.

There was also a significant increase in satisfaction of the smart meter installation process from 72 per cent in Q2 to 80 per cent – matching the record high set in Q1 2020.

Customers with a smart meter were more likely to be satisfied overall with their supplier’s customer service (74 per cent) than those without (71 per cent).

Complaints

Of all contacts with suppliers, 11 per cent were relating to a complaint and Q3 saw a statistically significant increase in customers complaining about a problem with their bill – up to 42 per cent compared to 30 per cent in the previous quarter.

Pricing/ cost of energy was the second most complained about topic (23 per cent) while 17 per cent were in relation to the attitude or behaviour of staff.

Furthermore, almost a quarter of complaints (23 per cent) had been live for more than a month.

Switching

Elsewhere the survey recorded the lowest number of people who said they had ever switched supplier, with just 45 per cent claiming to have ever done so.

Two fifths of those who have ever switched supplier did so in the last year which equates to 18 per cent of all consumers switching in the last year.

Cost was the most pressing factor behind people choosing a particular supplier and more than half (55 per cent) said they moved because their new supplier had better tariffs than their old provider.

Even when prompted with non-cost reasons, service, reputation, incentives and green tariffs are secondary considerations (20 per cent gave no additional reason).

However over time mentions of choosing a supplier because they offered a green energy tariff have substantially increased, with Q3 recording 18 per cent.

Between Q2 and Q3 there has also been a 4 per cent decrease in switching because of good customer services to 14 per cent.

Additionally, there remains high satisfaction with the switching process but satisfaction with ease of comparing suppliers is down from the previous quarter by 6 per cent to 77 per cent.

Recall of information

The spike of people recalling information provided by their suppliers seen in Q2, likely due to the the start of the pandemic, has seen a significant decrease in certain areas.

For example, receiving information on what to do in an emergency fell from 53 per cent to 47 per cent, while how to make a complaint dropped from 49 per cent to 44 per cent.

There was also a 6 per cent drop in people recalling a notification of a price increase (50 per cent) while how to improve energy efficiency fell from 47 to 42 per cent.