Customer service standards at energy companies have fallen to an all-time low as households are hit by rising bills, Citizens Advice said.
Standards have “collapsed” since June 2021, when several suppliers went bust due to high global gas prices, it said.
The average wait time on the phone to speak to a company today is about six and a half minutes, compared to just under four minutes last year.
Citizens Advice calls for improvements before bills start to rise again in the fall.
The energy price cap, which limits how much suppliers can increase the cost of household bills, rose by an unprecedented £700 a year to £1,971 for the typical household in April. Bills are expected to increase by a further £800 a year in October.
The increase in bills is due to the sharp rise in wholesale gas prices in recent months. Demand rose as economies reopened after Covid restrictions, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has stoked fears about supply and pushed prices further higher.
The rise in the wholesale cost of gas — the price at which energy companies buy it — caught many suppliers by surprise and meant they lost money on price promises to customers. This led to several, mostly smaller companies going bankrupt and millions of customers migrating to new providers.
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Between January and March 2022, Citizens Advice announced that its consumer helpline recorded more than 70,000 cases related to energy issues – a 63% increase over the same period last year.
The charity said it was “particularly concerned” about people with prepayment meters, who it said run the risk of running out of gas or electricity if they cannot afford to charge.
It warned that “without quick action” to address poor customer service, standards “will only get worse as bills are expected to rise again this winter”.
Energy suppliers have a duty to help people who can’t afford their bills.
“At a time when customers need every assistance imaginable, it is troubling to see the level of service being the worst ever,” said Dame Clare Moriarty, managing director of Citizens Advice.
“It leaves people frustrated and in the dark at the end of the call.
“We recognize that call center agents work incredibly hard to answer as many calls as possible, but energy companies need to do better.”
According to Citizens Advice, companies were also slightly slower to respond to emails. On average, suppliers responded to 62% of emails within two business days, compared to 66% for the same period in 2021.
The charity has ranked energy suppliers based on their “star rating” after reviewing information from a range of sources, including their complaints to their Consumer Service and the Energy Ombudsman.
It ranked Utilita, Ovo Energy, Ecotricity and E.On Energy as the four worst performers in customer service.
All four companies were asked to comment.
Ofgem, the UK’s energy regulator, said it is working with suppliers to improve the service, adding that “now is the time for them to up their game”.
“Our top priority is protecting consumers and as these statistics from Citizens Advice show, there are areas where customers are simply not receiving the service they desperately need and rightly expect during these very difficult times,” it said.
“We are clear to suppliers – they must not use the current gas crisis as an excuse for poor performance or harsh practices.”
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