OREANDA-NEWS. Leading energy supplier SSE is today publishing a radically simplified bill, endorsed by the Design Council, which aims to help bring an end to customer confusion over energy bills. 

The new design is the result of a year-long research project to redesign the bill with customers leading the process. Some of Britain’s leading consumer groups and designers including Citizens Advice, uSwitch, Age UK, the Money Advice Service and the Design Council have worked with SSE to create a new simpler bill.

Ofgem has recognised that there needs to be reform in energy bills and SSE hopes its research and the new design will make a significant contribution to the work being done by Ofgem to review the current rules around supplier communications.  SSE will continue to test its designs through customer research and is hugely supportive of the work Ofgem is doing on improving the regulatory framework to help drive improvements for customers. 

SSE’s research, which began with a blank sheet of paper and involved working with illustrators to bring customers’ ideas to life, found that more than three times as many bill payers find the new design appealing compared to the current design. In addition, seven times as many customers found it easy to find key information on the new design compared to the old design. 

Will Morris, SSE’s Group Managing Director, Retail, said: “The time has come to start again with energy bills. Our research has shown that customers are calling out for simpler bills. They want to be able to find the information they need quickly and easily and we believe the principles that our new bills are based on will help customers do just that.

“We have built this bill from scratch and created something which is based on what customers actually want. We’re delighted that Ofgem is looking at how to improve the rules so that they work better for customers and we believe our work can make an important contribution. It is vital that groups from across the sector – suppliers, consumer groups, design experts, the government and the regulator – work together to make sure these bills are better for customers. Across the board we need to become more customer centric as an industry and we hope this is a step in the right direction.”

Which? Executive Director Richard Lloyd added: “It's right that SSE has decided to try and tackle confusing bills that don't help to put consumers in control of their energy. We want to see all providers come forward with a range of solutions to be trialled and tested with Ofgem to ensure they deliver for consumers.”

Tom Lyon, energy expert at uSwitch.com, said: “Energy bills are notoriously difficult to decipher, and so SSE should be applauded for redesigning a bill based on such extensive research about consumers. The time for clearer energy bills is well overdue. To get more engaging with the market, it's vital that customers are armed with clearer, simpler information about their energy use and spend.”

John Mathers, Chief Executive of the Design Council, said: “Genuinely putting the customer at the very centre of this programme was key.  SSE has spent time and effort both understanding what it is their customers want from their bills and responding accordingly. This approach should set the benchmark in the utilities industry for the design of this critical piece of customer communication.” 

Caroline Rookes, Chief Executive at the Money Advice Service, added: “We support every effort to help consumers understand and engage with their energy bills. SSE’s simplified energy bill is an example of how companies can put consumers at the heart of the design and contribute to building a more financially capable society.

“Too many consumers are put off engaging with their financial affairs because they simply don’t understand the language companies use. Our recent Financial Capability Survey found that just one in five adults in the UK can read a bank statement which makes me pessimistic about people’s understanding of other bills and documents. People could be saving hundreds of pounds by switching energy provider but, failing to understand their energy bill may be discouraging them from seeking out more information about their options.” 

Complex bills are one of the biggest bugbears for bill payers but the majority of information included in it is stipulated by rules which in many cases govern both content and format.  All the information included on bills is there for the right reasons, to help and inform customers, but over the years the amount of information included has grown to the point where the bill becomes cluttered and confusing. 

SSE believes the time has come to go back to first principles and create a new approach based on what is proven to work for customers and is keen to work with Ofgem in this process.