WHICH? has ranked a full list of energy suppliers on customer service, complaints and the level of support they give.

It comes as bill payers have to to rely on government schemes, energy grants and other types of free cash to get by.

The list is taken from October 2022, and the total score combines both customer ratings and an assessment done by Which?.

Customers were asked to rate suppliers based on how they had acted in a crisis, and whether they had let customers down.

Which? then assessed each supplier in three areas:

• how well they conducted customer service
• the way they dealt with customer complaints
• what support they gave to customers in need

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It asked 10,197 energy customers to take part in the survey altogether.

Which? ranked Octopus Energy first, scoring 78%, and Utilita came in second with 67%.

Utility Warehouse came in third, scoring 65%.

But coming in third from last was SSE Energy Services, scoring 58%, which is just above Eon Next which got 57%.

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Scoring last was Scottish Power, which finished with 51%.

Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: “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. 

“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.” 

Best and worst suppliers ranked

Which? has scored suppliers out of three main customer service categories including complaints, customer service and customer support.

Each category was scored out of 10, 17 and 23 respectively to come up with the overall assessment score.

This was then combined with star ratings provided by customers based on how they felt the supplier had dealt with being in a crisis.

All of these scores were collected to come up with an overall percentage score for the supplier.

But high scores have dropped since the previous year, according to Which?.

Other than Octopus, Utilita, Utility Warehouse, SSE Energy Services, Eon Next and Scottish Power, here's who else was included in the list:

• Co-Operative Energy
• Bulb
• Ovo
• EDF
• Boost
• British Gas
• Sainsbury's Energy
• Shell
• So Energy

And here's where all the suppliers ranked from best to worst:

Ranking last, a Scottish Power spokesperson said: “While we’re pleased to see the survey recognising the improvements made in our Customer Service and Payment Accuracy scores, we’re disappointed that it fails to recognise the extensive support and advice we’ve provided to customers during the cost of living crisis, our best practice activities for vulnerable customers, as well as our award-winning customer app.”

Suppliers Ecotricity, GEUK, Good Energy, M&S Energy and Outfox the Market received too few customer responses to be included in the survey.

How to complain about your energy company

If you have a complaint about your energy company, then you should take it to the Energy Ombudsman.

They handle issues between customers and suppliers.

If you've tried to resolve a problem with your provider and you're getting nowhere, the Energy Ombudsman will look at your case and see if they can help you deal with the complaint.

It helps resolve issues on billing, installations and delays, loss of service, customer service, and switching suppliers.

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If they help take your complaint on, they can only help back bill you for 12 months.

That means you won't be able to get help getting money back before this.

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