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26 | 31ST MARCH - 6TH APRIL 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Customer service & bad debt "We'd like to see Ofgem do more to make the most of the opportunity to improve the experience of prepayment customers so they are on a level playing field with all gas and energy customers." Matt Barlow, chief executive, CAP CUSTOMER SERVICE RANKINGS – ENERGY Supplier Which? Customer score 1 Ovo Energy 78% 2 Places For People Energy 76% 3 Ebico 75% 4 Flow Energy 73% = Utility Warehouse 73% 6 Ecotricity 72% 7 Utilita 71% 8 Green Star Energy 70% = iSupply Energy 70% 10 Good Energy 66% 11 First Utility 64% 12 Sainsbury's Energy 60% = Spark Energy 60% 14 Eon 57% 15 British Gas 56% = SSE 56% 17 Economy Energy 55% = EDF Energy 55% = M&S Energy 55% 20 The Co-operative Energy 54% 21 Scottish Power 50% 22 Extra Energy 49% 23 Npower 44% Source: Which? satisfaction survey 2017 results CUSTOMER SERVICE RANKINGS – WATER Ofwat SIM survey 2014/15 annual report 1 Portsmouth Water 2 Wessex Water 3 Northumbrian Water = Welsh Water 5 Bournemouth Water 6 Severn Trent Water = Yorkshire Water 8 Dee Valley Water 9 South Staffs Water 10 Bristol Water 11 United Utilities 12 Anglian Water 13 AffinityWater 14 Sutton & ES Water 15 South East Water 16 South West Water = Thames Water 18 Southern Water 4.48 4.45 4.40 4.40 4.39 4.36 4.36 4.34 4.33 4.28 4.24 4.21 4.18 4.13 3.94 4.02 3.94 3.88 WASC WOC B ad debt is a serious problem for the utility compa- nies. The collective money owed – and that will not be directly recovered – across the energy and water industry was more than £2 billion in 2015 alone. To make up the shortfall, this money is then divided up across the remaining customer base of those who do pay. In the water industry, this now adds £21 to every bill in England and Wales. In the energy sector, the average debt of customers who are prevented from switching rose from £268 in 2013 to £418 in 2015. Water debts The situation is more pressing in the water sector because disconnections as a result of debt are not allowed. In the energy sector, disconnections are now rare, but self-dis- connections, where a pre-payment meter is not topped up with sufficient credit before it runs down, can occur relatively oen. Deryck Hall, head of policy and research at the Con- sumer Council for Water, told Utility Week: "Growing levels of bad debt suggest too many customers that are struggling to pay their water bill are not seeking or get- ting the support they need." Identifying and tackling the issue before it becomes a serious problem is the key to reducing the scale of the problem. This can involve informing customers and put- ting them on social tariffs to repay any debt that is owed and prevent any more debt being built up. Currently, all but two of the water companies offer social tariffs, with Hartlepool Water and Bournemouth Water set to introduce them next month. Regulator Ofwat has identified this and said it will "challenge" companies on bad debt in PR19. Speaking at Utility Week's Consumer Debt Conference, John Russell, senior director of strategy and planning at Ofwat said: "For PR19, when companies submit their Try to understand your customers Technology can help utilites learn more about those who struggle to pay