Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH MARCH 2019 | 11 Policy & Regulation "No less than five suppliers with 'excellent' reputations are offering savings of up to £267 a year." Utility Week's Voices series provides thought-provoking opinion from some of the most respected commentators within the sector to inform timely and frank debate. saving £267. My own calculations using Uswitch suggest that four of the other suppliers in the excellent category offer tariffs with savings ranging from £248 down to £207, and another such supplier offers a saving of £151. So, most of the top ten offers today, including the very highest ones, are from suppliers that are not yet well enough known to have established a reputation for quality of service. But three of the highest savings are from suppliers with good or excellent reputations. And no less than five suppliers with excellent reputations are offering savings of £207 up to £267. Conclusions First, there are lots of suppliers with lesser reputations or no reputation at all, but if customers want a better supplier for the longer term and not just a lower price today, there are at least a dozen suppliers out there ranked good or excellent. Second, there are still good savings (not over £300 but certainly over £200) to be made from switching to some half dozen suppliers with excellent reputations. Third, to avoid disappointment and criticism later, those urging customers to switch to get lower prices would be well advised also to emphasise, and perhaps screen for, reputation of the suppliers. Fourth, if a supplier's aim is not only to attract but also to keep customers in an increasingly competitive and informed market, then some suppliers, especially the large ones, need to pay more attention to how cus- tomers perceive them. Savings available in the retail energy market and the Overall Customer Service score, 12 February 2019, available at: https://www.eprg.group.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2019/02/S.-Littlechild_12-Feb-2019.pdf RANKING SUPPLIERS ON THE BASIS OF OVERALL CUSTOMER SERVICE Supplier Citizens Advice Which? rating Trust Pilot score Overall Customer Uswitch supplier rating (max 5) (max 100) (max 10) Service score score 2018/2019 (max 5) (max 5) Excellent Octopus Energy 4.30 80 9.50 4.4 5.0 So Energy 4.70 78 9.40 4.4 4.5 Bulb 4.20 72 9.50 4.2 5.0/4.5 Ovo Energy 3.70 74 8.70 3.9 4.5/5.0 Tonik Energy 3.45 76 8.80 3.9 4.5 Utility Warehouse 3.95 73 8.10 3.9 4.5 Bristol Energy 4.05 72 7.70 3.8 4.5 Good Green Network Energy 3.55 68 7.70 3.6 4.0 Avro Energy 2.75 64 9.10 3.5 4.5 First Utility 3.60 66 7.00 3.5 4.0 Engie 3.50 70 6.50 3.4 4.0 Ecotricity 3.40 72 6.60 3.4 4.5 Flow Energy 2.85 68 7.70 3.4 4.0 Robin Hood Energy 2.35 78 8.00 3.4 4.5 Mediocre EdF 3.95 57 4.60 3.0 3.5/3.0 Utilita 2.25 71 6.10 3.0 4.0 Co-op Energy 3.05 66 4.30 2.8 4.0 Together Energy 2.70 60 5.40 2.8 n/a Green Star Energy 2.30 65 5.50 2.8 4.0 iSupply 2.15 57 6.60 2.8 4.0 SSE 4.40 58 1.65 2.7 3.5/3.0 British Gas 4.15 56 2.30 2.7 3.53.0 Poor Scottish Power 3.65 54 0.33 2.2 3.5/3.0 E.On Energy 2.90 57 0.80 2.1 3.5/3.0 nPower 3.15 54 0.60 2.1 3.0 Solarplicity 2.00 44 4.40 2.1 n/a

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