EDF Energy named most complained about energy provider - Financial News UK

Complaints to energy firm EDF have risen by 91 per cent in comparison to the same time last year, which has lead it to become the worst rated firm according to an industry league table.

Consumer Focus the company responsible for the compiled data, said that EDF’s current performance was ‘unacceptable’.

In the months from July to September the firm saw a 74 per cent increase, mainly due to the introduction of a new billing system.

The company admitted in August to overcharging 100,000 customers over £200,000, following a seven-year fault on the company’s automated telephone meter reading system.

An apology was issued by the firm, in which they said affected customers would be reimbursed and confirmed that the problem had been fixed.

A spokesman for EDF Energy said: “We are obviously disappointed that we have not been in a position to consistently deliver the high levels of service this year that we expect ourselves and that our customers have been used to”.

“We sincerely apologise to those customers who have experiences any problems during this temporary period and thank them for their patience”.

Adam Scorer, director of external affairs at Consumer Focus, said: “Complaints about EDF Energy over the summer have had a catastrophic impact on its ratings”.

“While system changes inevitably cause disruption to customers, this must be minimised. Its current complaints performance is unacceptable and the company must take further steps to tackle this”.

In the months from July to September complains across the industry rose by over 26 per cent, compared to the last three months.

The latest figures show a rise in complaints for five of the ‘big six’ energy suppliers: E.ON, EDF Energy, Npower, Scottish and Southern Energy and British Gas.

In the same period the only firm to see a drop in the number of complaints – falling by 9 per cent – was Scottish Power.

Suppliers: EDF Energy, Npower and E.ON have dropped a star in the league table rating, this quarter the industry average has fell from 4* to 3*.