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Octopus Energy named supplier of the year as ‘big six’ disappoint

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
12/02/2020

Challenger brand Octopus Energy has been crowned supplier of the year in Uswitch’s Energy Awards, while the ‘big six’ continue to languish at the bottom of the table.

Octopus swept the board, taking home awards for best customer service, best online experience and easiest to switch, and achieving an overall customer satisfaction score of 92%.

Another challenger, Bulb Energy, was hot on its heels, with a customer satisfaction score of 91%. It scooped four category wins including best value for money and best deals for you.

Last year’s winner, OVO Energy, fell into fourth place with an overall customer satisfaction score of 88%.

The results, which were based on surveys of 17,000 energy customers, were less positive for the ‘big six’, with all six suppliers anchored at the bottom of the table.

Npower was ranked the lowest for overall customer satisfaction with a score of 63%.

British Gas was voted large supplier of the year by their customers, as well as landing five further gongs in the large supplier category, including best app, best rewards, and best account management.

Smart meter satisfaction

Meanwhile, there was some good news regarding smart meters. For the first time, energy customers who have a smart meter said they were more satisfied overall than those on analogue meters.

However, a warning note for suppliers installing smart meters: overall satisfaction with the smart meter installation process has declined to 67%, down five per cent since last year.

Rik Smith, energy expert at Uswitch, said: “The clear winners here are the innovative challenger brands who are putting their customers at the centre of everything they do.

“These disruptive suppliers have started to dominate the Uswitch energy awards in the same way that they’ve been wrestling control of the British energy market away from the big boys. It’s clear evidence that what bill payers want most, alongside great value deals, is excellent customer service.”

The table below shows how each provider fared in relation to overall customer satisfaction:

Rank Energy supplier Overall customer satisfaction score Year-on-year change
1 Octopus Energy 91.86% 5.19%
2 Bulb 91.39% 10.17%
3 So Energy 88.40% New entrant
4 OVO Energy 88.36% -0.06%
5 Tonik Energy 86.41% New entrant
6 Utility Warehouse 85.23% 2.31%
7 Avro Energy 84.53% 3.91%
8 Co-op Energy 82.17% 1.02%
9 Green Network Energy 79.32% New entrant
10 Shell Energy 75.62% -4.54%
11 Utilita 74.66% -0.62%
12 British Gas / Scottish Gas 70.54% 3.80%
13 SSE 70.47% 0.18%
14 E.ON 67.75% -1.01%
15 EDF Energy 66.26% -3.00%
16 Scottish Power 64.00% -4.93%
17 npower 63.59% -2.73%

Source: Uswitch