Npower and LE top list for energy complaints

Two foreign-owned energy companies – Npower and London Electricity – have topped the list for complaints about customer service and dubious doorstep selling techniques.

According to the latest figures released by the consumer body Energywatch, the French-owned London Electricity, which also controls Virgin Energy and Sweb, had the worst record in terms of complaints about direct selling.

Npower, which is now owned by the German utility RWE, was the worst performer when it came to handling the transfer of gas and electricity customers between suppliers.

The rate of complaints against London Electricity over direct selling in the three months to the end of June was 4.62 per thousand transfers – more than double the industry average.

Complaints meanwhile against Npower, part of the Innogy group, over transfers reached 10.26 per thousand customers compared with the industry average of 4.7.

Virgin Energy, which is 75 per cent owned by London Electricity, has recently been forced to sack some of its sales staff for illicit doorstep selling practices. In one case sales agents were caught inventing bogus supply contracts by copying out the names of dead constituents from the electoral roll. In another case they were found to have offered consumers non-existent incentives – such as free train tickets and CDs – in return for signing up.

Sir Richard Branson, the chairman of Virgin, has become so concerned by the adverse publicity that he is considering withdrawing the right to use the brand name from London Electricity.

Ann Robinson, chairwoman of Energywatch, said it was depressing to see such a high level of complaints against household names and warned that the industry had a long way to go before consumer confidence was restored.