Treating Customers Fairly October 2015
Our promise to treat you fairly At SSE we are committed to giving excellent service and treating customers fairly. Our 2015 Treating Customers Fairly Statement sets out the actions we are taking to deliver exactly this. As a company, we seek to always act in a responsible way, aiming to deliver fairness to our customers and the wider communities in which we operate. In 2014, we took the important step of becoming the first FTSE 100 Company to achieve the Fair Tax Mark. The purpose of the Fair Tax Mark is to provide assurance to customers that their energy company pays the right amount of tax, in the right place and at the right time. SSE was the first energy company to be an accredited Living Wage Employer. Whilst this was an important step in ensuring fair wages for employees, Living Wage brings about benefits for customers too. When employees are treated fairly, they stay with us longer and give a better service to customers. In 2014, SSE implemented the Living Wage through its supply chain in new contracts where employees would work regularly on SSE sites. Energy is an essential service and as an energy company we understand the importance of delivering a fair service. Customers, no matter who they are, where they come from or what their circumstances are, can be sure they will be treated fairly by us. SSE strives to continually improve and develop its products and services in a way that specifically seeks to treat customers fairly and we welcome feedback from customers on how we can do more. SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 3
Introduction You can also find out more information on our Business Energy website about our responsibilities to you, plus other helpful information including: At SSE we never forget that you have a choice of energy supplier and we appreciate the fact that you have chosen us. In return for the trust you put in us we want to keep improving the products and services we offer you. Access to Bills We take pride in being a retailer of energy to businesses in the UK and we take our responsibilities seriously. Our Treating Customers Fairly statement tells you about some of the things we are doing to meet the Standards of Conduct set by the energy industry regulator, Ofgem, and to improve the service we provide. Change of Tenancy Policy Refund Policy Our Complaints Handling Statement Carbon Reduction Commitment You can find our Business Energy website at ssebusinessenergy.com SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 5
Our standards of conduct Our decisions and actions are based on our commitment to treating you fairly. To help achieve this, we promise to meet the following standards: 1 We will behave and carry out all activity in a fair, honest and professional way. 2 The information that we give you, whether verbally or in writing, will be: - Complete, accurate and truthful - In clear and plain language - Related to products or services that are appropriate for you 3 We will act promptly and courteously. If something goes wrong, or a mistake is made, we will work with you to minimise disruption to your business. - Fairly presented, with the most important information clearly highlighted 4 We will continually review the way we do things to ensure our work is thorough, fit for purpose and transparent. 5 We will make it easy for you to contact us. Find out more You can find out more about what we are doing to meet these standards on the following pages. 6 SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 7
Listening to you Every business has its own particular energy requirements and it is important to us that you get the most appropriate supply contract for your needs. Our teams of dedicated Account Managers will listen to you to get a clear picture of your needs, and help you make an informed decision about the range of products, services and competitive market prices available. Our dedicated Customer Service Advisors talk to customers every day. This gives us plenty of opportunity to hear about the common energy issues businesses like yours face. To make it easy for employees to keep us informed about these issues we are creating a dedicated Treating Customers Fairly internal web page for capturing feedback. The feedback provided will allow us to get a clearer understanding of what improvements we need to make to our services and the areas where we could do more to treat you fairly. As well as the communications we have directly with customers SSE works with other organisations and regulatory bodies to understand and address customer concerns. These organisations include: - Energy UK - Federation of Small Businesses - Citizens Advice - Business Debt line - Ofgem Feedback Your feedback helps us improve the service we offer, so if there s something we should know, please tell us. We promise to make it easy for you to contact us and you will find all the ways you can do so at the end of this document. SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 9
Improving services for customers We put Customer Service at the heart of everything we do. That s why we have made a commitment to continually review the way we do things in our Standards of Conduct. We are setting up a dedicated team to review our processes and make the changes needed to improve your experience with us. Some of the key changes we are making or have already made are as follow: We are putting more information on bills We are providing extra details on bills for customers with a contract. This additional information includes: - The current contract end date - The date by which you can provide written notice to end your current contract - Acknowledgement that you have renewed beyond your current contract end date - Acknowledgement that you have provided a termination notice for your current contract We are introducing a Customer Charter We are creating a Customer Charter for our Small Business and Micro Business Customers. The Charter will focus on billing, contract documentation, sales, deemed contracts, and customer transfers. It will set out the standards we have applied for the activities within each of these areas. Refunding final credit balances We are enhancing our system to improve the way we refund your final credit balance when you leave SSE or move from a property supplied by us. Where possible, we will attempt to refund a final credit balance to your bank account, no later than 14 working days after the account has closed. We have ended automatic rollover contracts In response to feedback from customers, the Government, and Stakeholder Groups, we ended the automatic rollover of contracts for Micro Business and Small Business Customers in April 2014. We replaced them with a Variable Tariff Price that does not lock you into another fixed term contract but lets you leave with 30 days notice. We send you a renewal notice 60 days before the end of your contract with the following information: - Your current contract rates - The renewal contract rates we are offering - Details of the Variable rates 1 that we will apply if renewal rates are not accepted and you do not provide a termination notice - Details of the Deemed rates 2 that will be applied if renewal rates are not accepted, a termination notice has been provided and the supply remains with SSE beyond the contract end date. You can see more details of our Deemed Contract Rates and Variable Business Rates on our Business Energy Website ssebusinessenergy.com We have introduced an Online Data Analytics Tool Clarity, our new online data analytical tool, is for Business Energy Customers with a Supply Contract. Clarity offers a central web interface, which allows customers with Interval Data Supplies (Half Hourly or AMR supplies) to view, analyse and report on energy usage across all areas of their organisation. There is a choice of three Clarity packages, each offering different features that include: - Access to historical data - Detailed graph-based reporting - Analysis and trending - Report scheduling - Portfolio Management Your SSE Account Manager will be happy to tell you more about Clarity. If you do not have a direct dial or email for your account manager you can use either of the following contact details: Telephone: 0800 072 3317* Email: business.enquiries@sse.com 10 SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 11
If there is a problem We want to give you the best possible service at all times, but we know that sometimes things can go wrong. When there is a problem, we work hard to make sure it is resolved as quickly and effectively as possible. Should you feel the need to make a complaint, it will go to an expert team who will do all they can to resolve your issue, promptly. Despite our best efforts, we are not always able to resolve 100% of complaints ourselves. If you are not happy with our response, you can get an independent judgement from the Ombudsman. Energy suppliers are required to inform you of your right to take your complaint to the Ombudsman if it has not been resolved after eight weeks. However, we know that you want issues and complaints dealt with quicker than this and we will let you know about your right to contact the Ombudsman for resolution of your complaint after just six weeks. Our ambition over the next 12 months will be to reduce the time even further to four weeks. Complaint Handling We have created a Complaint Handling statement to show you the steps we will take should you have cause to complain. You will find a copy of this on our Business Energy website at ssebusinessenergy.com, under the Complaints Procedure section. Alternatively, you can contact us using the details provided at the end of this document and we will be happy to post or email a copy of the statement to you. SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly 13
Contact us Customer Service We have Customer Service Contact Centres in England, Wales and Scotland that are staffed from Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm. You can contact us in any of the following ways: Telephone: 0345 725 2526* Writing: Email: sme.service.helpdesk@sse.com Letter: SSE, PO BOX 514, Basingstoke RG21 8UQ Online: ssebusinessenergy.com Quotes and Contracts If you would like to make contact regarding a quote or a matter relating to your supply contract you can use any of the following: Telephone: 0800 389 4466* Email: direct.sales.basingstoke@sse.com Letter: SME Direct Sales, 10 Winchester Road, Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 8ZU We usually find it easier to help you via the phone rather than email. Talking directly to you helps us get to know you better and solve the problem more quickly. We aim to resolve most issues while you are on the phone, however, if the matter is a bit more complicated and requires more attention we will give you a realistic time of when we hope to have it resolved. 1 Variable Business Rates are not available for electricity half hourly and flexible contract Customers. New contracts must be agreed for these supplies. 2 Deemed Prices are not available for Gas End User Category (EUC) bands 4 to 9 due to the size and type of supply. New contracts must be agreed for these supplies. Charges apply to some of the packages. * Calls may be recorded and/or monitored for quality assurance and compliance purposes. 14 SSE Business Energy Treating Customers Fairly