Customer service data
Our interactive customer service indicators
Energy suppliers offer more than different prices – they also offer different levels of customer service. These indicators give a snapshot of the performance trends we monitor on supplier customer service.
Customer service highlights January to November 2024
Service quality
Overall customer service satisfaction increased to 71% in the July 2024 survey, from 66% in the previous survey (January to February 2024). Customer service satisfaction is now at the highest level recorded in this survey since September to October 2021.
A higher proportion of consumers with large suppliers were satisfied in July 2024 (70%) compared to January February (66%). A higher proportion of consumers with medium suppliers were also satisfied in July 2024 (73%) compared to January to February 2024 (63%). There was no statistically significant change for consumers of small suppliers (78%).
58% of all consumers told us they found it easy or fairly easy to contact their supplier in July 2024. This is higher than in January February 2024 (54%). The proportion of consumers finding it very or fairly difficult to contact their supplier is consistent with the previous survey wave at 14%.
Among those who have switched supplier, 85% told us they were satisfied with the overall switching process. This is consistent with January to February 2024. At the same time, 79% said they were satisfied with the ease of comparing suppliers in July 2024, which is similar to January to February 2024 (72%)
The proportion of credit meter customers who are satisfied with billing accuracy has increased to 77% from the previous wave (74%). While the proportion of credit meter customers satisfied with the ease of understanding the bills has remained consistent with the previous wave (78%).
If things go wrong
Across the market, the number of complaints reported by suppliers per 100,000 customer accounts in Q4 2024 was 1183. This is a 19% decrease from the previous quarter and a 7% decrease from Q4 2023.
For large suppliers as a group, the number of complaints reported per 100,000 customer accounts was 1200. This is a 21% decrease from the previous quarter and a 30% decrease from Q4 2023. For medium suppliers, the number of complaints reported per 100,000 customer accounts was 1198. This is a 19% increase from the previous quarter and a 12% increase from Q4 2023. For small suppliers, the number of complaints reported per 100,000 customer accounts was 306. This is a 17% increase from the previous quarter and a 13% decrease from Q4 2023.
Service quality
We all expect certain things from our energy suppliers, like understandable bills and the ability to contact them when we need to. These indicators show customer satisfaction with those and other fundamental points for the overall market and across different groups of suppliers. The data comes from a dedicated energy consumer satisfaction survey conducted for Ofgem and Citizens Advice by BMG Research. The tracking survey started in 2018 and is conducted at regular intervals.
Research reports with findings from the energy consumer satisfaction survey are published here on a regular basis: Ofgem consumer research | Ofgem.
For previously published customer satisfaction indicators based on a different survey and methodology as of February 2017 please see Customer satisfaction indicators - previous updates | Ofgem.
If things go wrong
No-one wants to have to complain about their energy supplier, and if you do, you want them to resolve your problem as soon as possible. Ofgem, Citizens Advice and the Ombudsman publish complaints statistics. The separate statistics show how many complaints suppliers receive, how many complaints Citizens Advice handle, weighted by the seriousness of the complaint, and how many complaints are accepted by the Ombudsman after failing to be resolved by the supplier. This helps to show a full picture of the customer’s complaint from start to finish.
The complaints data is provided by suppliers. As of July 2018, suppliers are required to submit complaints data to us on a monthly and quarterly basis. See our guidance on submitting customer complaints data. They also publish domestic complaints data on their websites, including their 'top 5' reasons for complaints and the measures they are taking to improve how they handle customer complaints. The large legacy suppliers have voluntarily published quarterly domestic complaints data since 1 October 2012, and many smaller suppliers have done so from 1 April 2013. At present, we generally cover suppliers with at least one full year of data. Missing data points in the complaint charts are due to suppliers failing to make the information available in time for our publication update or due to cases where we have asked suppliers to resolve data discrepancies.
Extra support
Sometimes you might need your supplier to provide you additional support, for example by helping you to repay an energy debt. These indicators compare how well suppliers support their customers.