In proof that more choice isn’t always a good thing, new figures show rising numbers of energy firms are offering customers bad service.

And it’s the new companies that are worst, figures from Citizens Advice show.

The charity’s latest league table shows five new or smaller energy suppliers – Outfox The Market, Eversmart Energy, PFP Energy, Pure Planet and iSupply – scored of less than two out of five. 

That’s up from just one in the last ranking. By contrast, the lowest-ranked big supplier was npower – scoring 3.15 stars – but it still beat 17 smaller firms.

When you add in the 12 smaller firms that have ceased trading since the start of last year – leaving close to 1million customers needing regulator protection to keep the lights on – the charity is calling for tougher rules.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: "We have seen too many companies who were completely unprepared to offer acceptable levels of service.

"A number of these have gone out of business in recent months, leaving customers worried, anxious and in some cases temporarily out of pocket.

"The regulator needs to take urgent action by tightening rules around supplier licences, monitoring existing firms more closely, and enforcing standards where these aren’t met."

What’s going wrong

Citizens Advice said its advisory service had identified particular issues among suppliers.

It pointed to Outfox The Market increasing direct debits without explanation and leaving customers unable to contact it.

Eversmart was said to have made unexpected changes to tariffs and direct debits, while there were complaints about PFP increasing direct debits and issuing large unexpected bills.

Pure Planet co-founder Steven Day said his company’s app-based model meant the Citizens Advice ranking method placed it at a disadvantage.

He said: "Being an app-based supplier is inherently different from traditional energy services providers. But this does not mean that an app cannot and does not offer high standards of customer service. It can and does. 

"Instead of having a phone number open for only part of the day, like many other suppliers, Pure Planet has a digital service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

Matthew Vickers, chief executive at the Energy Ombudsman, said: “We’re concerned that some small energy suppliers are failing to handle complaints properly or make their customers aware of their right to escalate a complaint to us.

“This needs to change if consumers are to have trust and confidence in the energy sector as a whole." 

Not all bad

While  Citizen’s Advice found the worst offenders were new suppliers, so was the best.

So Energy held its place at the top of the table for the fifth successive quarter. Overall, 7 of the top 10 firms were newer suppliers.

SSE was second and the highest placed of the so-called Big Six, with 4.4 stars, while EDF came 4th.

The consumer advisory service ranking covers 99% of the market and assesses data from 35 firms.

Top 10 suppliers

Tougher rules needed

Lawrence Slade, chief executive of industry body Energy UK, said: "With 11 suppliers having exited the market since the start of last year – many of whom struggled with their customer service as well as financially – we agree that Ofgem needs to toughen the requirements for new and existing suppliers.

"Increasing trust and confidence in the market means ensuring suppliers are not only financially equipped to compete on price in a difficult climate but can also deliver the quality of service that all customers, including ones in vulnerable circumstances, are entitled to."

Citizens Advice noted that regulations about complaints-handling said suppliers have to allow people to make and progress complaints by telephone.

Chris Thewlis from npower said: "While there’s still more for us to do to improve our overall position in the Citizen’s Advice survey, we’re encouraged to see improvements year-on-year in various external benchmarks such as the recent uSwitch and Which? surveys."

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