Our Customer Commitments - Earning your trust
March 2012
Dear Customer,
By choosing EDF Energy, you are making a commitment to us. This letter sets out our commitment to you.
The energy industry has been criticised over prices, service and complex tariffs. So Our Customer Commitments are based on fair value, better service and simplicity.
I am determined to make EDF Energy a better kind of energy company. We won’t achieve everything overnight, but here are some of the steps we are taking to earn your trust:
1. Fair value
We are committed to providing fair value for our customers. We froze prices in Winter 2010, were the last of the major suppliers to increase prices in autumn 2011 and moved first to cut our prices in 2012.
But it is not enough. So, in time for this Winter, we will introduce a new rebate scheme for our most vulnerable elderly customers, who are identified by the Government as most in need. This will ensure they automatically benefit from our cheapest tariff.
We also launched ‘Blue +Price Promise’ – electricity backed by low carbon generation. The Price Promise - which is a first in the industry – means that we will tell you if you could save over £1 per week with any other supplier at typical use. If you choose to leave us, there are no fees to pay.
2. Better service
Our UK-based advisers are available on our freephone number and they care about providing the high quality service you deserve.
But, over the past year, we’ve fallen short of our high standards while we have been implementing new IT systems.
Now, we are acting to get back on track. I trust our people to get us back amongst the best by the end of this year.
Your feedback will help us improve. We want you to score our performance and we will publish your satisfaction ratings online.
For those who find it useful, we will offer round the clock Live Webchat Customer Services from June. This will be the first of many initiatives to make your life easier.
3. Simplicity
We have simplified our tariffs and made it easier for you to choose the right one for you.
We will soon be launching new-look bills, designed with customers, to make them much clearer and simpler.
These are our main commitments to you. If you’d like to know more about them, please click on the above tabs.
We want to help you to hold us to account and we will be open and transparent. Our website will include a dashboard showing our progress against our commitments. I am also appointing a Customer Commitments Officer, to strengthen our governance further.
We won’t be perfect overnight, but we are determined to become a better kind of energy company.
I would like to hear your feedback. Please email me at vincent.de-rivaz@edfenergy.com
Thank you for placing your trust in EDF Energy.
Best regards,
Vincent de Rivaz,
Chief Executive Officer
We are committed to providing affordable energy for all our customers. It’s only fair. We will also ensure that those of our elderly customers, who are identified by Government as most in need, will not pay more than they would have, if they had been on our cheapest tariff.
What we’ve already done:
- In April 2012 we launched ‘Blue+Price Promise’. Our Price Promise – a first in the industry – means we will inform customers when we become aware of a product that is more than £52 a year cheaper - at typical consumption* with any other supplier. And we don’t charge exit fees if they leave.
- In December 2012 , we introduced a new rebate scheme for our most vulnerable elderly customers who are identified by the Department of Work and Pensions as most in need. This is designed to ensure they can automatically benefit from our cheapest tariff
* Typical consumption is 3,300 kWh electricity and 16,500 kWh gas per year, or 5,000 kWh electricity per year for customers with economy 7 meters.
See our performance:
The majority of energy customers in Britain are on a “Standard” tariff. This is a variable price that can go up (at 30 days’ notice) or down. Many customers may sign up to a different tariff, for example a fixed price deal, but will default back onto a ‘Standard’ tariff at the end of the contract period, unless they actively make another choice. Therefore, having a cheaper ‘Standard’ tariff benefits the many, not just the few.
The tables below show how competitive EDF Energy’s ‘Standard dual-fuel tariff’ is compared to the standard dual-fuel tariffs of the other five largest energy suppliers (accounting for over 98% of households). They are based on calculating the average price nationally, for a customer who pays by direct debit and has typical consumption of 3,300 kWh of electricity and 16,500 kWh of gas (or 5,000 kWh of electricity for customers with economy 7 meters).
| Number of weeks in the past 52 where our standard tariff has been below the average market price of the other major suppliers | 45 weeks | 87% of the time |
| Number of weeks in the past 52 where our standard tariff has been the cheapest of the major suppliers | 45 weeks | 87% of the time |
The price position of our Standard direct debit dual fuel tariff, again based on national averages, at typical counsumption*, is currently:
| Compared to the most expensive major supplier | Compared to the cheapest major supplier |
|---|---|
| £22 per year cheaper | £6 per year cheaper |
Click here for more information on what makes up your energy bill
We know we need to do better. Our aim is to be here for you when and where you need us, with UK-based telephone advisors who care about providing you the kind of service you’ll want to recommend us for.
What we’ve already done:
- We have kept our telephone call centres in the UK, with a Freephone number
- We have built a new system to enable 24-hour online access to account management tools
- In June 2012 we launched round-the-clock Live Webchat services
- We have started to measure our advisors on customer recommendation ratings and are publishing the results on our website
- While our commitment to have one of the lowest complaints levels in the energy industry by the end of 2012 was not met, we have taken a number of positive steps towards achieving this and complaint volumes have fallen significantly in the second half of the year
- We have made a number of improvements to our online service and account management tools
See our performance:
We know that there are two key things you want from us: to be able to get in touch with us easily and to have your issue dealt with efficiently.
Over the past year, we’ve fallen short of our high standards while we have been implementing new IT systems. Now, we are acting to get back on track. In the table below, you can see a few key measures to judge how we are doing:
The figures include our new 24-hour Live Chat service, that allows us to be contacted online, at any time, day or night.
| Week Ending 12.05.2013 | 4 Weeks Ending 12.05.2013 | Year to date |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Calls answered within 1 minute | 71% | 70% | 54% |
| Calls answered within 5 minutes | 88% | 89% | 77% |
| Live Chats answered within 1 minute | 96% | 95% | 89% |
| Live Chats answered within 5 minutes | 99% | 99% | 98% |
| Emails completed within 24 hours | 97% | 89% | 64% |
| Emails completed within 72 hours | 100% | 100% | 95% |
A key measure for us is how willing customers are to recommend us. A sample of callers are asked by our advisors to rate our service, at the end of the call, on a scale of 1-10. We are striving for 9s and 10s. We consider 7s and 8s as only “ok” and a sign we must do better. Marks below 6 mean we need to significantly improve. Here is how we are doing, based on the most recent sample:
It shouldn’t be so hard! You want to understand what you’re paying for, and what the best deal is for you. So, we’re committed to making energy clearer and simpler so you can more easily make the right choice.
What we’ve already done:
- We’ve simplified our tariffs based on a unit rate and a standing charge
- We have reduced the number of tariffs we have on sale, to provide a simpler choice for customers to meet their needs
- We introduced a clearer and simpler bill, designed with help from customers, from Summer 2012
- We are improving your annual energy statement to make it easier to understand. This will launch in early 2013
- We introduced a new energy label for new tariffs, making comparisons easier
See our performance:
We obtained:
- Plain English Society accreditation for our Terms & Conditions
- Plain English Crystal Mark on the back of our bills