SSE Atlantic is now SSE: tariffs, prices & reviews

A subsidiary of the SSE Energy Group, SSE Atlantic offered its own exclusive tariffs in the Midlands and North of England, while benefiting from SSE’s energy production and distribution. In 2020 the SSE Atlantic branding was dropped in favour of the UK-wide SSE name instead.

SSE Atlantic has changed hands and is now simply, SSE. Anyone affected should contact SSE directly for more information.

What happened to SSE Atlantic?

Previously a struggling independent energy supplier, in April 2004 Atlantic Energy was bought out by the SSE Energy group. Atlantic was rebranded to SSE Atlantic, and became part of one of the country’s large suppliers.

In January 2020, however, SSE sold its Energy Services retail business to Ovo Energy. Ovo Energy now runs the SSE brand, choosing to keep the brand separate from its Ovo Energy” parent brand. Therefore, SSE, SSE Atlantic, and Ovo are all one large company under different brand names.

Ovo continues to use the SSE name, boiler cover and reward programmes associated with SSE, though has dropped the SSE Atlantic brand. Former SSE Atlantic customers can find up-to-date information on their supplier under its new name on our SSE page.

Reviews: was SSE Atlantic any good?

Although it was part of one of the UK’s largest suppliers, bigger doesn’t always mean better. In the case of SSE Atlantic, its strength was drawn more from the length of time it had been in operation than genuinely good service.

In the annual customer survey from consumer choice website Which? before the closure of SSE Atlantic, the provider came 24th out of 31 gas and electricity suppliers in the UK. The provider scored particularly low due to its high energy prices and lengthy call centre wait times.

In addition to this, reports from Ofgem state that SSE Atlantic received a higher than average number of complaints per 1,000 customers compared with the rest of the big six.

However, to the supplier’s credit, it did manage to resolve 80% of these by the next working day and 96% within eight weeks.

Information in this guide is no longer being updated since the closure of this supplier. All information presented here is for reference purposes only. For more information please contact the new supplier directly.

*Source: Ofgem. Figures averaged over quarters 1-4 in 2019.

Meanwhile, Trustpilot score the provider an average 1.4 out of 5 stars from over 1,000 reviews at the time of original publication of this article. Customers on the consumer review platform claimed to be left without gas or electricity for long periods of time while waiting for maintenance to fix installations. Additionally, complicated customer service could often make it difficult to get in touch with the right person.

Will SSE Atlantic’s customer service improve under Ovo?Check out our Ovo Energy reviews page to see how the supplier scores for customer satisfaction.

Tariffs and prices

SSE Atlantic no longer offers these tariffsFor up-to-date prices, see SSE tariffs.

SSE Atlantic kept things simple by offering just two tariffs: a single, variable-rate, energy tariff, known as the Standard Evergreen and its prepayment Pay As You Go tariff.

Although SSE Atlantic's tariff prices could vary widely depending on region and payment method, it certainly wasn’t one of the cheaper suppliers on the market.

We ran some tests on both of its tariffs to see how much an average customer could expect to pay on an SSE Atlantic dual fuel plan over the course of a year.

We based our tests on a three-bedroom house in the south of England with an average energy usage of 2,900kWh of electricity and 12,000kWh of gas. As energy prices depend heavily on location and energy usage, your own costs could be higher or lower than our estimate.

Unsure how much energy your household uses?Get an estimate by using our handy energy consumption calculator.

SSE Atlantic prices

SSE Atlantic no longer offers these tariffsFor up-to-date prices, see SSE tariffs.

Fuel Mix

Information in this guide is no longer being updated since the closure of this supplier. All information presented here was correct at time of publication and is for reference purposes only. For more information please contact the new supplier directly.

Despite being known as one of the more expensive suppliers on the market, it’s clear to see that SSE Atlantic did not reinvest much of its profits in renewables.

In fact, only 15% of its energy came from renewable sources, far below the national average of 33%. Likewise, its use of fossil fuels was much higher than many other suppliers on the market, with a heavy dependence on coal for its electricity generation.

Account Login

SSE Atlantic provided an online customer portal and smartphone app available on both the Apple and Android platforms. By using the SSE Atlantic login to manage their account, customers were able to:

• Check balance and bills.
• Monitor energy usage.
• Submit meter readings.
• Make secure payments.

Those already registered can continue to use their old SSE Atlantic username and password to access the same features through the new SSE website.

Extra services and activities

SSE Atlantic customers had access to a range of extra benefits and services, from discounted event tickets to help with inefficient heating for vulnerable customers.

SSE Atlantic Reward Scheme

One of the major benefits to signing up with SSE Atlantic was access to its reward scheme. The SSE reward scheme offered customers unique benefits such as exclusive presale tickets and discounts on music, sports and entertainment events at the SSE Arena, Wembley and SSE Hydro.

The SSE Reward scheme continues to operate following Ovo’s purchase of the supplier in early 2020.

Help for vulnerable customers

In addition to its reward schemes, SSE Atlantic provided a range of different services for those that needed it most.

Warm Home Discount

SSE Atlantic offered a rebate of £140 in credit on their electricity account to eligible customers.

Customers in the core group will continue to receive the Warm Home Discount automatically under the SSE rebrand, while those in the broader group will need to reapply through SSE when the scheme opens again.

Although SSE Atlantic no longer exists, many other energy suppliers continue to offer the scheme. For more information visit Selectra’s guide to the Warm Home Discount guide.

Discounted energy-efficient installations

Another perk of being with SSE Atlantic was the possibility of having discounted insulation or heating installations to help bring bills down.

Who qualified?

To qualify, customers needed to own or privately rent their property and either be or live with someone in receipt of one of the following qualifying benefits:

• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit plus additional benefits
• Income Related Employment and Support Allowance plus additional benefits
• Income Related Job Seekers Allowance plus additional benefits
• Income Support plus additional benefits
• Working Tax Credit with an income of less than £15,860 plus additional benefits

Careline

Careline was SSE Atlantic’s free priority service for elderly or disabled customers and those with special medical needs.

Through SSE Atlantic Careline, customers were added to the Priority Services Register and received a range of services from braille bills to textphone. This continues under the SSE rebrand and those who have already qualified do not need to reapply.

Services available through Careline:

• Password scheme
• Large print bills
• Talking bills
• Braille bills
• Relay service
• Nominee scheme
• Special devices and adaptors to make it easier to use controls, plugs and switches.

Contact details

As the provider is no longer operating as SSE Atlantic, we have listed the easiest ways to get in touch with SSE below. For more information, such as opening hours and who to contact in case of an emergency, take a look at our complete SSE contact guide.

Phone numbers in this guide are no longer being updated since the closure of this supplier. All information presented here is for reference purposes only. For more information please contact the new supplier directly.