Spark Energy

Spark Energy went bust on the 10th December 2018 affecting 290,000 customers. Get a full list of energy suppliers that have gone bust here.

Spark Energy is now owned by the ever-growing and ever-impressive Ovo Energy. Ovo Energy acquired the Spark Energy business back in November 2018 after Spark Energy struggled operationally and subsequently lost their energy licence and ceased trading. With this, Ovo Energy added a reported 290,000 customers to their user base. Although Spark Energy now operates under the Ovo Energy supply licence, they continue to operate their business from their offices in Selkirk, Scotland.

Who are Spark Energy?

Before their collapse under the guidance of then Chief Executive (and Co-Founder) Chris Gauld, Spark Energy was a small gas and electricity disruptor brand looking to offer "great value tariffs and a 'Better than Big Six' service". To be fair, offering a better service than the Big Six energy suppliers isn't exactly pushing the boat out nor setting your standards too high given most, if not all, of the big six have notoriously offered poor service whilst they struggle to operate on old legacy systems. Equally, the big six were able to operate and didn't need a bail out from UK energy regulator Ofgem and Ovo Energy to keep the lights on.

Spark Energy works predominantly in the rental market working closely with leading letting agencies.

What do Spark Energy offer?

Spark Energy keeps it simple with 4 energy tariffs but they are not cheap. Based on our data and energy price comparison of their energy tariffs their cheapest energy deal comes in at around £1,176 meaning it is £309 more expensive the cheapest energy deal on the market today.

How well do they do it?

We found there to be a bit of a mixed bag when it came to customer reviews for Spark Energy. Their mobile app scored 1.5 stars out of 5 from 241 reviews suggesting customers are not best pleased with the user experience on offer.

Jumping to their TrustPilot score, they score "great" with 4 out of 5 stars from more than 25,416 reviews. Our eyes are drawn to the 21% of reviews saying they are "bad" though which is a little concerning.

Spark Energy's customer service looks to be on the ball though. They are responsive on social media which is good to see and the offer livechat and a dedicated customer service number for customers to contact them on which we always like to see.

Conclusion

I think the Ovo Energy connection is their saving grace. They seem to be on to a winner with regards to the rental market to acquire customers but we're concerned that these customers are getting a poor deal with much bigger savings available elsewhere. It's therefore key for anyone renting a property to find out who your energy supplier is and, if they have the landlord's consent to do so, to do their own energy comparison and ensure they are on the best deal possible for their home energy supply. Simply put...if you're with Spark Energy, then you're losing out financially.