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Our customer commitments

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Our customer commitments - treating customers fairly

Our three promises to customers are to deliver fair value, better service and simplicity. These commitments represent our dedication to putting customers first. They are also a public acknowledgement of our responsibilities as an energy supplier and a producer of electricity.

We know that trust in our sector is still low. But we have an ambition to become the best and most trusted energy supplier. And by living up to these commitments in all our activities, we believe we can make a real difference.

We welcome that the industry regulator Ofgem has set out Standards of Conduct for all energy suppliers, because we believe it will make things better for all customers. You can see more about the standards on this page.

Our Trust Test

We use a Trust Test to make sure we meet the Standards of Conduct. It means that when we create new processes, policies or communications, we ask ourselves ‘is this the right thing to do for our customers?’ Then we ask five more questions:

  • Is this a fair thing to do?
  • Are we being professional?
  • Are we offering products, services and advice that are appropriate for each customer’s needs?
  • Are we being transparent and communicating clearly?
  • Are we being honest? This includes admitting mistakes and acting quickly to put things right.

See below for more detail on how we’re treating customers fairly.

Our three key promises for large business customers

To best serve our business customers we split them into two categories: Small and Large Business. Our Small Business customers usually have less than 50 sites and quarterly meter types but there is sometimes overlap as businesses develop. Our Large Business teams manage any customer with more than 50 sites or a half-hourly meter type.

Fair value

We understand that energy costs affect our customers in different ways. To help Crown Commercial Service framework members manage these costs, we offer expert information and insight. We regularly review our customers’ needs and innovate as necessary to meet them. 

Products to suit your organisation

Larger consumers have different needs, often related to the size of their property portfolio or how and when they use or produce electricity. We’ve developed some innovative products such as Power Purchase Agreements, Market Insight and Pass-through invoice option. 

Helping customers to save energy

We have a range of services that can help customers manage their consumption, track usage against targets and make savings. Our Energy View service is available to help customers analyse their recent consumption data in detail. We also offer Energy Audits to help large businesses hit their energy efficiency targets.

Refunding what we owe

When it comes to payments and refunds, any balance your business has with us is either collected or refunded as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Useful information

Call us on 0845 300 4904(1) to find out more about our range of contracts, or use the following links to find out more about:

 

Better service

Our aim is to offer the best service in the industry and that means we listen to you and act on your feedback where we can. From efficiently dealing with the paperwork through to helping customers put energy at the heart of their business strategy, our teams are on hand to assist.

Many ways to get in touch

Crown Commercial Service framework members have a variety of ways to get in touch with us. Members can speak to dedicated account management teams, or use group email addresses to reach knowledgeable staff. 

Manage your account online

MyAccount for Large Business, our online account information portal, gives Crown Commercial Service framework members the information they need to stay in control. Members can view the meter read history, view an invoice or request a Carbon Reduction Commitment report. 

Good conversations

We actively monitor the service you get when you call, randomly selecting calls to listen in on.  We check that our teams listen to members, explain the options clearly and help members to get the right contract for their organisation. If we think anyone in our team isn’t getting it right, we give them extra training until they do. Alongside our customer satisfaction survey, we run a detailed analysis to identify exactly what makes our customers likely to recommend us. All the feedback we receive from this survey is fed into a continuous improvement process.

Our Welcome Team looks after all new customers joining EDF Energy, making sure that right from the start they have everything they need for things to run smoothly and efficiently. Our regular updates keep you informed about how things are progressing for your sites.

Investing in customer support

We’re investing in streamlining and updating many of our existing processes so that customers get more tailored and helpful communications. Whenever we make significant changes like this, we keep customers fully informed and take measures to keep the impact to a minimum. 

What if things go wrong?

We’re dedicated to achieving one of the lowest levels of complaints in the energy industry. We constantly monitor our processes, but even in the best organisations, people make mistakes and IT systems go wrong. When mistakes happen, we will act promptly and courteously to put things right. 

If you do need to complain, it’s easy and we’ll listen. We aim to resolve your complaint by the end of the next working day. At peak times and for more complex complaints this may take longer. 

How are we doing?

You can see how we're living up to our commitment to give you better service.

Useful information

Simplicity

Our customers are busy, so we try to help them wherever we can. We make sure our communications are easy to read and understand. We aim to help customers navigate the complex energy landscape and put energy at the heart of their business strategies.

Clear communications

When we create written customer communications, we design them to be simple, transparent and in plain language. We use our Trust Test to make sure communications are fair, professional, appropriate, transparent and honest.

We clearly state on our customers’ bills what they need to pay for their energy usage, by when, how it was calculated and who to contact if they want to query anything. The continued improvements we’re making to our systems will result in clearer and simpler bills for our Larger Business customers.

Clearer contracting information

We clearly highlight the important bits in our contract summary and renewal terms so that customers know exactly what they are signing up to and what they need to do and when. If you’re on a deemed tariff we’ll remind you to call in and discuss other contract options. We’ll also write to you at least 30 days before your prices are due to change.

Talk Power programme 

We regularly run events to update customers on changes to energy markets and regulation and the opportunities these bring. Our letstalkpower.com site and our annual customer conference are a chance to hear our experts’ views on the latest developments. In 2014, 99% of attendees found our conference “engaging, informative and enjoyable”.

Useful information

Standards of Conduct

On 26 August 2013, Ofgem’s Standards of Conduct came into force to make sure energy suppliers like us treat customers fairly. It’s part of many positive changes that will make the market simpler, clearer and fairer for customers and help them to choose the best deal.

For residential customers, the standards cover all interactions with customers and for small businesses(2), the standards cover everything relating to bills, contracts and changing supplier.

The standards mean that whenever we deal with a customer, we make sure it’s in a fair, professional, appropriate, transparent and honest way. All our tariffs and services must be appropriate to our customers’ needs, just as information given to customers should be clear, easy to understand and jargon free. We need to make it easy for customers to get in touch and leave no stone unturned in putting things right if we make a mistake.

We need to make sure everyone at EDF Energy understands the standards expected of them. As part of this, each year we publish this statement, which sets out the actions we’re taking to treat customers fairly. You can read a full copy of the Ofgem standard of conduct.

CCS Framework membership benefits

Crown Commercial Service is delivering value for the nation through outstanding commercial capability and quality customer service. EDF Energy is one of the UK's largest energy companies and the largest producer of low-carbon electricity. Together, we're working to help public sector organisations simplify their energy purchasing, understand the market and save time and money. Find out more