Four-fifths of the complaints handled by the Energy Ombudsman Services in 2011/12 were about billing, the company said in its annual report. Of the remainder, complaints about account transfers accounted for 9 per cent. Complaints about sales practices made up just 6 per cent of the total.
Those proportions were consistent with previous years, but Ombudsman Services said the number of customers that made contact had increased, from 54,794 in 2010/11 to 74,505. The service said it was “hardly surprising that the energy ombudsman has handled a record number of complaints”, noting that in the period the regulator had highlighted poor standards of customer service and consumer groups had expressed concern about complex bills and slow complaints procedures.
Slow procedures were reflected in dealings with the ombudsman. Three-quarters of contacts were made before the end of the eight-week period in which responsibility for complaints rests with firms, and they had to be redirected.
Ombudsman Services now handles complaints about the cost of network connections and will take on complaints relating to the Green Deal scheme later this year.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 20 July 2012.
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