SSE - November 2025
SSE is one of the biggest energy providers in the UK.
We hear from Adrienne from Forsinard who runs a small wildlife photography business with two colleagues. In July 2023, she joined SSE, but after a couple of years she noticed her bills were always estimated, despite sending meter readings. Adrienne complained to SSE, who told her that they would update her bills with the correct meter but randomly she received a bill for £9,507.
Over the next two years, Adrienne attempted to resolve the situation with SSE, getting in touch multiple times but the bills kept coming, along with the threat of bailiff/debt collectors. By June 2025, Adrienne’s patience had run out and she complained to the Ombudsman, which ruled in her favour. 7 weeks after the Ombudsman’s ruling, Adrienne’s bill had climbed to £13,873.50, for a meter that hadn’t been on her property since 2016.
We also hear from Natalie from Wimborne in Dorset, runs a small property rental business with her family. Initially SSE was supplying electricity for a shop that Natalie owned but when she converted the building to a rental property in 2022, she asked to change supplier. Natalie tried to switch her account back in 2022 but because SSE failed to update the national database, she was stuck with them and couldn’t leave her tariff until it was sorted.
Then letters started arriving from debt collectors, chasing money on behalf of SSE. Natalie had to cover 20% of her tenants’ utility bills, just so they weren’t paying more than they should. SSE apologised to Natalie in May 2024 about how long it was taking to transfer her tariff but over 2 months later she was still on the same tariff, so she took her complaint to the Energy Ombudsman to complain, which ruled in her favour. 10 months later, the Ombudsman ruled in her favour, yet she was still getting threatening letters. Natalie went back to the Ombudsman for a second time and SSE told the Ombudsman it had called off the debt collectors, with the energy firm ordered to refund Natalie £526 and pay a further £150 in goodwill.
When we wrote to SSE it told us it has conducted a comprehensive review of both cases, and it recognises that its service fell below the expected standard of customer care. It said it was really sorry to both customers for these shortcomings and the distress this has caused them. It is committed to fully implementing the Energy Ombudsman’s findings and has agreed compensation with both customers.
And finally, it told us they are constantly working to improve the experience of its customers and will take learnings from these cases for future improvements.
You can watch the VT here for 28 days - /iplayer/episode/m002lsx2/the-one-show-05112025
