Energy suppliers have been told to “double down” on customer service as households face another difficult winter of rising bills, with millions of consumers already struggling to afford their energy.
Citizens Advice, the official watchdog for energy consumers, said suppliers “must go further” in supporting customers despite a modest improvement in service standards over the latest quarter.
The warning comes as households prepare for a 4 per cent increase in the Ofgem energy price cap from October 1, taking the typical annual bill for a household using gas and electricity to £1,723.
The increase, equivalent to £60 a year or £5 a month, takes the cap to its highest level in three years. Analysts have forecast a further 9 per cent increase from January.
Citizens Advice said its latest assessment of energy suppliers showed the median customer-service score rising from 3.26 out of five in the first quarter to 3.4 between April and June.
Average call waiting times also fell from 77 seconds to 68 seconds.
Outfox Energy topped the latest rankings with a score of 4.03, followed by 100Green on 3.90 and E.ON Next on 3.71, the highest-ranked of the major suppliers.
TruEnergy recorded the lowest score at 1.38, followed by Utilita at 2.53.
But the charity warned that relatively benign conditions during the spring and early summer could mask the pressure suppliers will face as temperatures fall and household energy consumption rises.
Gillian Cooper, director of energy at Citizens Advice, said: “It’s positive to see higher levels of customer service in the energy sector, but companies can’t afford to be complacent. These latest ratings cover a quieter period for energy suppliers, when lower costs mean people are less likely to need support.
“As we face another difficult winter of rising prices, suppliers must ramp up their efforts. For people in debt, unable to afford a meter top-up, or worrying about whether they can afford to heat their homes, customer service isn’t just helpful – it can be a vital lifeline when the temperature drops.”
The charity’s research found that more than 10 million households, equivalent to 37 per cent of people in Britain, were worried about how they would pay their energy bills this winter.
Some 3.5 million households were estimated to be in energy debt, either behind on payments or without gas or electricity because they could not afford to top up a prepayment meter.
The figures underline the continuing affordability pressures facing households despite the gradual improvement in customer-service performance across the sector.
Utilita disputed part of the methodology behind the rankings, arguing that the complaints measure disproportionately affects suppliers with large numbers of financially vulnerable prepayment customers.
A Utilita spokesman said: “We welcome the data published in Citizens Advice’s latest star rating, which shows Utilita leading the sector for low call wait times and ranking among the best for correspondence and smart metering – all important benchmarks of good customer service.
“However, we have consistently warned that categorising affordability concerns as complaints is misleading.
“The Citizens Advice extra help unit primarily supports financially vulnerable people at risk of self-disconnection, so it is unsurprising that prepay customers are more likely to seek support. For a smart prepay specialist like Utilita, this inevitably skews our complaint score – the most heavily weighted measure – and, in turn, our overall ranking.”
The survey for Citizens Advice was conducted by BMG Research among 4,556 people across England, Wales and Scotland between July 23 and 28.
The combination of higher bills, widespread anxiety about affordability and millions of households already in energy debt means suppliers are likely to face a sharper test of their customer-support systems when winter demand increases.
For consumers unable to keep up with payments, the charity argues that effective customer service can become more than a measure of satisfaction — it can determine whether vulnerable households receive help before they are forced to go without energy.
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