In 2013, Ofgem asked Ipsos to use the Consumer First Panel to undertake deliberative research to explore in detail consumer views about vulnerability and the non financial support that vulnerable customers may need from energy companies. To complement Panel research, Ipsos conducted a survey with GB energy consumers. The main focus was Priority Service Register (PSR) services which energy companies are required to provide to their customers.
Both pieces of research revealed very low public awareness of Priority Service Registers
1. Moreover, the quantitative research revealed awareness of non-financial support offered by energy companies is significantly lower in social grades DE (18% of GB energy consumers compared with 31% of GB energy consumers in social grades AB); the group who are, in general, most likely to be at risk of being vulnerable.
When the services were explained in the qualitative research, people were positive about the services available. In particular, the survey showed people felt free gas safety checks were a priority (44% of GB energy consumers listed it in their top three from the current services provided). However, the survey showed only 16% of eligible customers have used a PSR service or have had a gas safety check in the past year. To address low awareness and usage Panellists wanted energy companies to do more to publicise PSR so that vulnerable customers do not “fall through the gaps”.
To facilitate this, there is some appetite amongst Panellists for auto-enrolment and greater sharing of data between energy companies and between energy companies and public sector organisations. However, in the quantitative survey opinions were mixed on the extent to which people wanted their data to be shared between energy suppliers. Around a third (35%) say they would be happy with this proposal, almost the same proportion (31%) however say that they would be unhappy with it, while a third say they are neither happy nor unhappy or don’t know (33%).
Opinion also diverged when consumers were asked to think about who should receive extra non financial support. Indeed, a key finding of Panel research is that consumers did not think vulnerability is easy to define, or that it can be assigned to certain categories of people in a straightforward way. As a result, Panellists concluded that energy companies should take a “needs-based” approach to providing extra support: tailoring services and extra support accordingly.
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Technical note
The Consumer First Panel has been a flagship project within the Consumer First initiative for the last five years. It consists of a Panel of around 100 domestic consumers who meet a number of times over the course of a year to discuss and feed in to key policy issues. The Panel workshops were deliberative in nature, so that participants were encouraged to develop their views about the future arrangements for the Priority Service Register in the light of new information they received during the sessions, from both a personal and citizen perspective.
In February 2013, Ipsos conducted 1,990 face to face interviews using Ipsos’s weekly omnibus survey (known as Capibus). These interviews included questions about awareness, use and attitudes towards non-financial support for vulnerable energy customers. Data was weighted to the GB population.
Notes
1 The Priority Service Register is compiled by each supplier and distribution company and includes details of eligible consumers that have asked to be added. These customers are eligible for certain free services such as the relocation of a meter to ensure it is accessible.
