Retail Market Review: Energy bills, annual statements & price rise notifications, report by Lawes and Gadsby 2011
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This document is an abridged version of a report that describes research conducted in 2011 by Lawes Consulting Ltd for Ofgem. The research considers the language and layout of bills, statements and price rise notifications issued to consumers by various energy suppliers. The original report highlights both problems and desirable practices that would enhance consumer understanding of these kinds of communications. This abridged version is free from examples of actual supplier communications which appeared in the original document and thus preserves their anonymity. Moreover, this abridged report summarises the very long original research findings into a few key principles of communication. This is followed by a discussion section in which the authors give their professional opinion and vision for reformed energy communications. The research methods used include discourse analysis and semiotics, and academic social-scientific literature is invoked throughout.