| Reading time: 3 mins If we’re looking at the largest energy companies in the country, then a few big names spring to mind. Of course you have British Gas, who have been the biggest energy supplier in the UK consistently for many years. Just beneath them you have SSE, which used to be known as Scottish and Southern Energy – nowadays, it’s just SSE.
As one of the larger companies with more than 10,000 employees and millions of customers across the UK, you’d expect them to be one of the better companies out there. But are they as good as you’d think, or are there other options out there which might prove to be a better choice? Well, we’re going to look at SSE in a closer detail to find out.
SSE Energy Review
All in all, SSE energy aren’t going to be a bad choice if you’re looking to change energy supplier. In general SSE customers tend to be pretty happy with their tariffs and contracts, and due to the energy switch guarantee, you can be sure that you’re not paying much more than elsewhere.
However, you still may be able to save money by shopping around and looking at the other energy suppliers on the market. SSE’s customer service is probably their Achilles heel, but this is common amongst the big energy firms – worse customer service, but increased reliability. Let’s look at SSE in a little more detail.
Who Are SSE?
The likelihood is that you’ve already heard of SSE energy, as they’re one of the biggest suppliers in the UK. They’ve been around for a long time, being founded more than 20 years ago now.
Thank you for reading this post 🙌 - don't forget to take advantage of our New Free Tools: Electricity Cost Calculator and Energy Bill Calculator 👇
Energy Bill Calculator
Our Energy Bill Calculator is designed to help you estimate your electricity costs in the…
Electricity Cost Calculator
Do you want to know how much your electrical appliances are costing you every month?…
SSE have been the second largest energy company out there for more than 15 years now, when they overtook E-on, who were previously the second largest company (the largest company being British Gas). They seem to be on the same downward trajectory as the other big firms in terms of market share.
However, this all changed in 2020 when the retail branch of SSE was actually sold to the energy company OVO, who are also the owners of the Energy company Boost. Whilst Boost is focussed on Pay As You Go energy, of course SSE is one of the biggest energy suppliers in the UK, and offers a range of different tariffs. So, OVO still sell energy under their own brand and under the SSE brand, too.
SSE – Pricing & Tariffs
SSE offer a variety of different tariffs for you to choose from, with discounts available for those who are willing to sign up to a direct debit payment.
Like all the big companies, their cheapest tariff is a 1 year fixed option, which tends to be the best choice for most people. This way, you aren’t tied down to any 2 or 3 year contract, and you’ll likely get the best rate. If you want to, you could also opt for a variable rate contract, which will change in accordance to the rest of the energy market.
As well as covering your gas and electricity, you can also look to get other things covered by SSE too. They’ll give you a good package deal if you want to include broadband in there as well, and you can also get boiler cover included too incase anything breaks down.
Can I get a smart meter with SSE?
If you’re looking to get a smart meter installed, then all of the big companies like SSE are installing them free of charge nowadays. So if you’re still getting your energy read manually, then it might finally be time for you to upgrade and move to a better system.
Is it easy to switch to SSE?
If you’re looking to switch to SSE, then it’s very easy to do so. All you need to do is get in contact with them, and they can let your current energy supplier know that you’re looking to switch over and start using their services instead (a service like LAMB will do this for you automatically).
Is SSE a good company?
Historically, it’s fair to say that whilst SSE didn’t have a bad reputation, it wasn’t the best out of the big six suppliers either. However, as they’ve been recently taken over by OVO, it’s unfair to say that any of this is a reflection on them, as OVO generally have pretty great reviews and happy customers. So, we’ll just have to see whether OVO can improve the reputation of SSE too.
What else do SSE offer?
As well as offering gas and electricity, SSE also sell wifi/broadband services too. These are generally quite reasonably priced, though not as cheap as some other options that are out there.
Is SSE energy expensive?
Generally opting for a big six supplier like SSE is going to be more expensive than going for a newer, cheaper brand that is less well known. You’ll probably end up on higher rates with SSE than you would with a smaller company.
Conclusion
All in all, SSE are another one of the big players in the energy market, and they’ve proven themselves to be reliable in the long term. With the recent acquisition by OVO, it will be interesting to see how the company do over the next few years, especially with so many new competitors entering into the energy market.
