At Scottish and Southern Energy we are committed to offering the very best in customer service and will do all we can to help you manage your account. However, in recognition of the fact that things do sometimes go wrong, we have produced this Complaint Handling Statement to show what will happen if you have cause to complain to us.
How to Contact Us
The easiest and quickest way to resolve your complaint is to telephone us on one of the numbers listed below. Alternatively, if you are unable to phone or would prefer to write, you can contact us by email, via our online contact form or by post using the address listed below.
If at any time you would prefer to talk to us face to face about your complaint, you can visit one of our Customer Service Centres. Please contact us for details of your nearest office.
Scottish and Southern Energy
Post – PO Box 7506, Perth PH1 3QR
Southern Electric – 0845 0700993
Scottish Hydro Electric - 0845 300 2131
SWALEC - 0845 3002136
Atlantic Electric and Gas - 0845 3002136
You can also contact us through our website at www.ssebusiness.co.uk
Step 1 – to resolve your complaint at the first point of contact
When you telephone us with a problem our adviser will attempt to resolve matters with you while you are on the call. However, if necessary your complaint will be escalated to a Manager or specialist team. We want to agree a solution by 8pm the following working day.
If you write to us with a problem, we aim to fully resolve matters by 8pm the following working day after we receive your letter. We may try to contact you by telephone to help with this resolution. If we cannot resolve your complaint fully or have not agreed a form of resolution by 8pm the following working day after your first contact, then you can proceed to the next step.
Step 2 – to resolve within 5 working days of escalation from Step 1
Following Step 1, if the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, then you can raise the matter with our Head of Customer Service, who will undertake an independent internal review and aim to reach a resolution within 5 working days.
You can contact the Head of Customer Service as follows:
Phone - 0800 975 7772
Email - headofcustomerservice@scottish-southern.co.uk
Post – PO Box 7506, Perth PH1 3QR
If you would prefer, you can deal with your complaint throughout this process by speaking with us rather than writing.
Step 3 - The Energy Ombudsman
If, after contacting the Head of Customer Service you remain unhappy, you can request that the complaint be deadlocked. Once you receive a deadlock letter you can contact the Energy Ombudsman.
Alternatively, you can contact the Ombudsman should you fail to have had a satisfactory response from the Head of Customer Service within 5 working days, or if 8 weeks have elapsed since registering your complaint. Please note that you may be referred back to us if you have not escalated your complaint via our formal complaints process outlined above.
The Ombudsman will carry out an independent investigation on your behalf. Any decision the Ombudsman makes will be binding on our Company, but not on you, so you can seek further advice if you wish to.
As part of resolving your complaint the Ombudsman may ask us to make an apology or give an explanation. They can also ask us to take remedial action and may require us to award compensation in appropriate circumstances.
You can contact the Ombudsman as follows:
Phone - 0845 055 0760 or 01925 530 263
Textphone - 18001 0845 051 1513 or 18001 01925 430 886
Email - enquiries@energy-ombudsman.org.uk
Website - www.energy-ombudsman.org.uk
More about complaint handling
To find out how we deal with complaints, you can download the Complaint Handling Statement and Procedure document from the link below:
Complaint Handling Statement (PDF)
Complaint Handling Regulations
You can read the Complaint Handling Regulations on the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website.