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February 2019 - Utilities

'Big Six' beaten by small energy suppliers in latest Which? survey: The annual satisfaction survey by Which? has revealed smaller energy suppliers have performed better when it comes to customer satisfaction than the traditional 'Big Six'.

Taking the top spot was Octopus Energy, which supplies over 400,000 households in the UK - rated 'good' or 'excellent' value for money by 9 in 10 customers and achieving an overall satisfaction score of 80%.

The Which? survey polled 8,000 people across the UK asking them to rate their suppliers in areas such as customer service, accurate billing and how they handle complaints.

Smaller firms also took the remaining four spaces in the top five - with Robin Hood Energy and So Energy in joint second place with overall satisfaction scores of 78% followed Ebico and Tonik Energy in joint fourth position with scores of 76%.

The so-called 'Big Six' (British Gas, EDF Energy, Npower, SSE, Scottish Power and Eon) were ranked in the lower third of the table - with only SSE achieving a 4 tar rating for its online and telephone customer service. SSE also had the highest satisfaction score of the Big Six at 58% (22nd place in the table out of 30).

However, it wasn’t good news for all small suppliers, Solarplicity, rated for the first time in the Which? survey was ranked bottom of the table after poor satisfaction scores from customers with an overall score of 44%.

Director of home products and services at Which?, Alex Neill, said: 'Our survey shows the importance of value for money and good customer service - energy suppliers delivering both to their customers tend to be thriving, while the Big Six and other poorly-ranked firms are paying the price for not giving customers what they want.

"All energy companies should be working to give their customers competitive prices and excellent customer service."

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