Energy Switching Figures Mask Drift Back to Big Six
New figures revealing there have been a record number of energy switches so far this year do not necessarily mean that more people are switching, or that people switching are saving on their bills, according to the Managing Director of the UK’s first auto-switching site.
Figures from Energy UK revealed that so far in 2019 there have been 5.8 million ‘switches’ with 502,817 of these happening in in November – 1.2 per cent more than in the same month last year.
Mark Gutteridge, Managing Director of Flipper, which finds cheaper suppliers for its customers, said detailed analysis of the figures show that customer behaviour is changing.
He said:
“The figures count the number of switch events rather than the number of households switching. With engaged consumers now switching multiple times in a year it is likely that the number of households who have switched has actually fallen compared to last year.
“If you look at the movement between energy suppliers, the number of people switching to one of the large suppliers grew by 26% year on year, so these are households going back to a big player, not 1st time switchers, while small and medium suppliers saw the smallest monthly increase in customers for three years, gaining just 64,000.”
Mr Gutteridge said many customers were being tempted back to the Big Six by low tariffs being offered on price comparison sites which offer a saving of around £280 per year for a household with “typical” usage.
He said:
“Having lost 4.5 million customers over the past few years the Big Six are now fighting back and have created deals that appear near the top of the price comparison sites. These are often promoted as being “exclusive” to the sites and are not available direct from the supplier.
“But if you look at the small print you’ll see that by moving to these tariffs you are agreeing to have a smart meter installed. If you move and then refuse to have a smart meter you’ll be bounced onto the suppliers expensive standard tariff and be charged £60 in exit fees for moving deals!
“Given there are better deals available from other suppliers without all these caveats, we would suggest customers do a bit more research before deciding which tariff is best for them,”
Flipper will be monitoring the market closely over the next few weeks and monitoring how the energy suppliers react when Ofgem sets the level of the Price Cap at the start of next year.
Eng energy providers by continuously checking the market for the best deal and automatically flipping its customers on to the cheapest tariff. The average Flipper customer saves £385 a year and in return, the company charges a small annual membership fee, which is only charged if savings are made.
