People are missing out on a great deal of savings by not switching their energy supplier, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC). By shopping around and taking advantage of the best energy deals, millions of people can save around £200 – and some can save even more.
Around 13.5 million households across the UK are missing out on their share of £2.7 billion by sticking with their energy company. The just launched ‘Power to Switch’ campaign, encourages people to switch supplier and save money by visiting the ‘Go Energy Shopping’
website. With 26 energy companies on the market and some fixed deals £100 cheaper than they were a year ago, there’s never been a better time to find a great deal, switch and save.
Launching the campaign, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “When it comes to switching, the power is in people’s hands to get a better deal. We’ve reformed the market so that there are more suppliers, more competition, and a much faster and simpler process to switch.”
Benefits of switching
With Ofgem’s strengthened Confidence Code for price comparison sites, people will be able to have greater confidence to switch, than ever before. The Government’s programme of energy market reform includes:
- Halving switching times – it now takes only 17 days to switch energy supplier down from 5 weeks last year;
- Encouraging new suppliers on to the market – there are now 20 independent suppliers;
- Legislating to back Ofgem reforms that force energy companies to make energy bills clearer – and providing information for customers about how to switch.
Comparison websites have until the end of March to comply. Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert, said: “We need to shout loud about the benefits of switching tariff. Too many people think energy firms are ‘all the same’. That’s far from true, there are huge differences on both price and customer service.”
Even after price cuts, someone on a Big 6 supplier standard tariff with typical use will pay £1,158 a year, whereas switch to the cheapest tariff and they’d pay just over £900 a year. So it’s worth people taking 10 minutes to see if they can save themselves £250.
The ‘Power to Switch’ campaign will run for four weeks and will include national, regional and online advertising, encouraging people to switch and save.
More information about how to switch energy supplier. Or contact the Energy Saving
Advice Service.
