How to turn up the heat on your energy supplier
personal finance expert Sarah Pennells
Where to start if there’s a problem
If you’re having a problem with your energy supplier, your first stage is to complain – clearly – to the
company itself. There are four golden rules whenever you make a complaint.
Firstly, gather all the information you need before you pick up the phone or start an email.
Secondly, make sure you’re clear about what’s gone wrong and what you’d like the company to do
to put it right.
Thirdly, keep a copy of any letters you send and make a note of who you spoke to on the phone and
what they said.
Lastly, as the company to send or show you a copy of their complaints procedure. All energy
suppliers must have one, and it means you’ll know what they should be doing and when.
Give the company time to sort out the issue, but don’t let them fob you off repeatedly if they’ve
promised to resolve the problem and fail to deliver.
Getting help with your complaint
You can get impartial help with your complaint from Citizens Advice via their website
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ or by ringing 03454 040506, or from a complaints website such
as Resolver https://www.resolver.co.uk/ . This service has complaints templates that you can use
and keeps a copy of everything you’ve said – useful if you need to take your complaint further.
If the energy company hasn’t sorted out your complaint within eight weeks (six weeks if you’re
complaining about SSE), or if you’re not happy with its response, you can take your complaint to the
Energy Ombudsman, which is a free to use service.
But there are other steps you can take before – or alongside – going to the ombudsman.
Going to the top
Most energy companies have what’s called an ‘executive complaints team’. This team deals with
complaint letters and emails that have been sent to the chief executive.
The energy company has to put a postal address on bills and on its website so you can write to the
chief executive there, or you can email them if you can find their email address online.
Your letter may not be read by the chief executive, but it may be given a higher priority than if you
simply contact the supplier’s call centre.
Getting social
Find out if the energy company has a Facebook page or Twitter feed. Some energy companies only
use their social media channels to talk about what they’re doing, rather than to listen to their
customers, but these tend to be in the minority.
Companies that have ignored emails and phone calls sometimes respond to a well worded tweet or
Facebook message – especially if you include your local paper or radio station in your tweet.
Keep your tweet or Facebook message polite and never put something on social media when you’re
boiling with rage. If you’re being unreasonable, it may get shared for all the wrong reasons!
Talk to the media
You may feel that your energy company has treated you very badly, but that doesn’t necessarily
mean the local or national media will be interested in the story. But, it’s definitely worth getting in
touch with them.
Energy companies can be very bad at dealing with complaints promptly and fairly but sometimes the
threat of some media exposure can do a lot to focus their minds!
Bear in mind that if you want to get the media involved, energy companies generally won’t talk
about your case without a signed letter of permission from you and they also won’t comment if
you’ve already complained to the Energy Ombudsman.
Complain to the Energy Ombudsman
If your energy supplier still hasn’t sorted out your problem after eight weeks, contact the Energy
Ombudsman. You can contact them on the phone (0330 440 1624) or via their website
https://www.ombudsman-services.org/energy.html. If the Ombudsman thinks your energy
company hasn’t treated you properly, the supplier may be told to pay you compensation.