SSE Supplier Information, Requirements & More
SSE is the second largest supplier in the UK with over 9 million customers and has been awarded the top supplier for the year in Datamonitors overall supplier to SME users.
SSE Energy Services (SSE’s GB domestic retail business, and formerly part of the SSE Group) became part of the OVO family in January 2020. SSE takes pride in being the largest generator of Renewable Resources.
My Review
I reviewed all of the Energy Suppliers in the UK that I know and SSE ranked #5 on that list. My review was based upon four criteria;
- Cheap prices
- Ethical Practices
- Ease of Communication
- Problem-solving
Here’s my review of SSE;
Cheap Prices
SSE prices are rarely the cheapest for the type of customer base I work with (small businesses.) On the flip side, when it comes to the larger corporate meters, SSE prices are consistently cheapest or at least top three.
Ethical Practices
SSE’s practices are at best, questionable. They don’t roll contracts over after they end which is nice. They don’t place limits on type of business they accept which is great. Contract acceptance is based on credit only, which is good.
SSE do not accept businesses who have domestic meters, which isn’t great. That excludes many thousands of businesses. They also do not accept Independent Gas Transporters (IGT) meters.
Probably the most controversial thing SSE does is they quote prices which exclude an additional Feed in Tariff (FiT). Almost all energy suppliers in the UK include this tariff in their rates. SSE however do not. The FiT is usually 0.6p per kwh.
They also have a £40 a year charge for customers with an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meter. No other supplier charges this and most businesses don’t even know they an AMR meter. Even myself as a broker, I have no way of knowing until SSE says they do.
SSE do not accept non-direct debit payments which is also not great.
Ease of Contact
SSE are ok to contact, with phone lines and email available. Their social media team is not the easiest to deal with and no online webchat available.
They do allow brokers to create an online account with them, and then upload authority letters and access their clients account, which is a game changer for a broker.
Problem Solving
I’ve unfortunately had the unpleasant experience of dealing with SSE’s complaints team many times. They’re not great. They are all English speaking which is nice, but in my ten or so complaints I’ve dealt with, I’ve found SSE’s complaints staff to be very aggressive and undermining. The customer service agents, thankfully are much nicer.
Summary
SSE will no longer accept any new business for customers that have 05-08 profile classes.
Should a customer wish to change to SSE then it is required that the incumbent supplier change their profile class to 00 prior to SSE quoting this.
Terms & Conditions
SSE Electric Deemed Contract T&Cs
Customer Service
SSE has call centres nationwide operating under 3 Brands, Southern, Hydro & SWALEC.
SME Service lines are open Monday to Friday 8.30 to 5pm.
Online
Live Chat
Online Form
Account Login
Account Login
Email Address
General Email: customerservice@sse.com
Termination Email: sortnotices@sse.com
Broker Email: SMEDIRECTCA@sse.com / Cardiffteam2.tender@sse.com
Change of Tenancy Email: commercialwestcot@sse.com
Phone Numbers
General Inquiry: 0345 600 2006
Complaints: 0345 070 7373
Gas and Electric Enquiries: 0345 070 7373
SME Southern: 0345 026 2658
SME SWALEC: 0345 026 0656
SME Hydro – 0345 026 0655
Social Media
Billing & Payment
All SSE contracts are now subject to payments via direct debit and require direct debit details to be provided at point of submission for both acquisitions and renewals.
SSE may accept cash cheque through bespoke however this will be assessed on a case by case basis.
Electricity meters are billed quarterly as standard. If the customer does not have AMR then they will need to stay as quarterly billing. If the customer has an AMR meter and are paying the uplift already, this can change to monthly billing.
The customer can upgrade to AMR metering for monthly billing by sending an e-mail to amr.offer.project@sse.com detailing the MPAN which they would like the AMR meter upgrade, a site contact name and number, and a sentence outlining that they are happy to incur the £40 per year extra standing charge.
SSE only accept Direct Debit for renewals and acquisitions. A Direct Debit Mandate is required to be provided at the point of submission for all contract submissions (renewals and acquisitions). If for any reason the direct debit agreement is cancelled during the contracted period without SSE’s agreement, and the customer reverts to a cash cheque option the unit rate will increase by 0.5p/kwh for electricity and 0.1p/kwh for gas until such time as the direct debit is reinstated.
Termination
You must log the terminations no later than 30 days from the contract end date.
Renewal
Currently, renewal offers are issued 60 days prior to the contract end date.
Where a Customer remains with SSE past the contract end date they will be moved onto a 30 day rolling variable rate.
Letter Of Authority Requirements
Credit & Business Acceptance
SSE credit check all contracts and use Experian to assess a customer’s credit worthiness.
SSE require all of the customers accounts to be up to date on Companies House and may require Experian to contact the customer direct to complete a more in depth credit check. SSE cannot accept a business if they have entered into any form of IVA.
Where customers do not meet the standard criteria, the customer is offered the option of paying a security deposit or agreeing to a higher, risk based price.
SSE do not credit check Churches or Charities as long as they are registered on Charity Commissions and all accounts are up to date.
There are no excluded business types – the credit check is completed on the merit of the customer’s score. If you ask a doctor whether Ativan is addictive, then also ask how he defines addiction: addictive only medication for which “you have to constantly increase the dose” to achieve the same effect. For this reason, SSRIs are not addictive, but after weaning, you still have a lot of fun with the withdrawal symptoms.
Contract Requirements
SSE will accept paper (PDF), Docusign, or verbal contracts.
The Site Addresses must match industry databases (Xoserve / ECOEs). Where these are not matching these will need to be updated by the current supplier before the contract can be processed by SSE.
SSE will apply for sites twice only, if the first objection is not resolved within 14 days the contract is cancelled and will require reselling.
Supplier Updates
Update As Of August 4th, 2020 – New Guidelines For Letter of Authority
SSE has released new guidelines on its requirements for Letters of Authority. These are effective immediately.
- All letters of Authority are now required to show the below information:
- Customer name
- Consultant/TPI name
- A start date (within the last 12 months)
- The end date of LOA (if this is left blank they’ll put in the contract end date as the LOA end date)
- The actions (authority levels) the LOA allows the Managing Agent/TPI to perform
- Contact name and job title
- Contact signature (e-signature accepted)
- Contact telephone number and email address (if not on the LOA we require this information to include in the body of the email)
- Company Reg/Charity number (Limited companies only)
- For group accounts, you must provide an appendix stating the customers and MPANs/MPRNs managed
In addition to the above, SSE has advised that they no longer require LOAs on letter-headed paper.