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Energy bills: Best and worst energy firms revealed

Energy prices uk. Rising utility costs. Concept of raising living cost illustration
Millions of consumers have been transferred to a new energy supplier. Photo: PA/Alamy (LDNPix)

With energy prices spiralling most UK households have tried to find a better supplier, so here we reveal the best and worst energy firms according to customers.

Octopus Energy takes the number one spot on Which?’s annual customer survey, with a combined score of 78%.

Octopus was the only provider to receive a five-star rating in any category – with customers awarding five stars for usefulness of information about energy costs. It received a four-star rating for every other category.

Octopus customers were most likely to recommend their supplier – with nearly nine in ten (87%) saying they would recommend it and it was the only energy firm this year to be named a Which? Recommended Provider.

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Read more: UK households 'set to pay £500 less on energy bills than forecast' as gas prices drop

Octopus Energy took on an additional 1.5 million customers from Bulb in December last year.

Utilita came in second, with a combined score of 67%. However, it ranked much higher in Which?’s assessment of supplier practices (75%) than in the customer survey (59%).

The best and worst energy companies. Table: Which?
The best and worst energy companies. Table: Which?

At the other end of the scale, Scottish Power came at the bottom of the assessment of supplier practices with a score of 53%. It received just three points for its complaints performance.

Shell (SHEL.L) Energy and SSE (SSE.L) Energy Services came bottom of the customer survey with overall scores of 48% and 46% respectively.

Shell Energy received just one star for value for money in Which?’s survey and its customers were least likely to recommend it to others. Just under half (47%) of Shell customers said they would recommend the firm – compared to an average six in 10 (61%) across all firms.

SSE Energy Services only got one star for three of the aspects in Which?’s customer satisfaction survey, including the clarity of its communication about the energy market, and two stars for the remaining two. Over half (54%) of SSE Energy Services customers complained about an issue with their bill.

“While customers are choosing to stay put due to a lack of deals in the energy market, our research has found that some firms are falling far short of meeting their customers' needs during the cost of living crisis,” Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said.

“Providers must make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch and seek support when they need it – or customers will vote with their feet and switch away when this becomes an option,” she added.

Read more: This one issue is adding £350 to your energy bills

Which? surveyed 10,197 members of the public in October 2022 to get an in-depth assessment of suppliers' practices and procedures in three areas – how well they conduct customer service, how they deal with complaints and how they support customers in need.

The average customer score was 54% this year – lower than it was in January 2022 (59%) and 2021 (64%).

A fifth (20%) of energy customers in Which?’s survey were moved to their current supplier when their former one failed – with Shell Energy customers most likely to have experienced this (45%).

Watch: Chancellor announces reduction in energy bill assistance