‘Big Six’ are lagging behind
How are you holding up during this bitterly cold spell? I know that I’m dressing as if going on a polar expedition every time I leave the house, and that my thermostat has been turned up higher as the temperatures have dipped.
Which all gets me to thinking about energy costs, and whether the energy market is working in favour of us, the people that pay the bills, or just in favour of companies’ profits.
Recently a few smaller firms have ceased trading and you might think that would put people off switching from the bigger suppliers. But our annual satisfaction survey has just shown that some small companies trounce the Big Six when it comes to value for money, customer service and accurate billing.
We asked 8,000 people across the UK about their electricity and gas providers and the service they received. Five small suppliers topped the rankings, with only the smallest of margins separating first-placed Octopus Energy, Robin Hood Energy and So Energy in joint-second place, and Ebico and Tonik Energy in joint-fourth position.
But the Big Six energy suppliers – British Gas, EDF Energy, Eon, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE all sit in the bottom third of the table, with none receiving an overall customer score higher than 58 per cent (that’s 22 percentage points lower than Octopus).
SSE was the highestranked of them while Npower and Scottish Power were joint-lowest ranked of the Big Six.
We also found that less than one in five Big Six customers are “very satisfied” with their supplier, compared with a third of customers with medium and small suppliers. Without doubt, the importance of value for money and good customer service can never be forgotten, no matter how big your company is. The Big Six and other poorlyranked firms are paying the price for not giving customers what they want.
So, as temperatures continue to fall, if you’re not getting a good deal, you should look to switch, potentially save over a hundred pounds and leave poor customer service out in the cold.
Remember to send me your consumer queries to askalex@which.co.uk