Life Hacks
Should I Switch Energy Provider?
The compelte guide to understanding if you should switch energy provider
Over half of us are still overpaying for energy! We uncover the main reasons why people are reluctant to switch to save and introduce you to the future of switching energy provider.
It’s 2021 and over half of us are still over paying for our energy – we’re curious as to why!
In this article, we’re going to dig into some of the most common reasons why people are reluctant to switch energy providers and introduce you to the future of energy switching.
It takes too much time
The biggest concern is the perception that switching energy providers is a long drawn out process. It’s actually a quicker process than switching bank accounts… and you earn more money for it!
Switching energy providers is a simple as entering your postcode into a comparison website having a quick browse of the results and choosing which plan you’d like to switch to. After entering a few personal details, your new provider will do all the heavy lifting and inform your current provider that you’re switching and providing them with final meter reads. Boom!
You could switch while waiting for your cuppa to brew, while on the loo or during your rest period at the gym.
Summary: Switching doesn’t take much time at all and your new provider does all the work!
I've been with my supplier years - I'll lose my loyalty
Long gone are the days of loyalty benefits. If the reason you’ve not switched providers is because you’ve always been with the same provider, we almost guarantee there are some juicy savings to be had.
The perception that customer service far outweighs that held with smaller new companies, especially companies we’ve never heard of. 20% of us doubt we’d receive the same service levels with a different provider. Unsurprisingly, smaller energy companies fare better in customer satisfaction surveys – as they’re doing their best to impress new customers. Most energy companies (if not all) allow you manager your account online and provide online chat/social media support which makes for a seamless 247 service.
If you’re one of the 20% of people who doubt they’d get the same level of service from a different supplier,
Summary: Loyalty isn’t rewarded as well as it used to be, switching to a new provider will reward you better.
Never heard of the supplier, no thanks
The number of supplier in the UK has grown from 12 in Dec 2009 to a staggering 56 in December 2019. It’s unlikely that you’ve heard of all 56 providers. The vast increase of suppliers is good news for us, as it has created a ore competitive market place – in simple terms, cheaper energy for us!
However, 31% of people have been found not to switch to a provider they’ve not heard of. With smaller companies comes the higher risk of going bust (when compared with the big 6), we complete understand the reservation of switching.
Good to know: If your energy provider goes bust, you will not be left without an energy supply. Another provider will be appointed to supply your energy by Ofcom. As you will be on a deemed contract (a contract you didn’t choose), you are free to switch tariff with the same provider or switch to a new provider without any penalties.
Summary: The number of energy providers has increased significantly in the past decade – which is great as it makes for a competitive market (meaning cheaper energy for us!). Good to know: If anything ever goes wrong with your provider, your energy supply will not be cut off.
It's not worth the saving
The savings made from switching energy are not seen instantly – they take a full year to recognise, which doesn’t incentivise some of us to switch. According to MoneySuperMarket over half their users saved £238 a year on their energy, which will cover your Netflix and Spotify subscriptions for a year, or pay for a holiday away! That’s not bad for 3 minutes work we’d say.
Summary: You can save up to £238 a year using a comparison site! You’ll save enough for a holiday within 3 minutes!
There's no point - the price always goes up
Energy prices will inevitably fluctuate. There are a couple of ways to protect yourself from price increases. The first way is to choose a fixed contract – this means your price per unit will remain the same for the period of your contract. The other is to look for companies who offer price promises, for example NPower promise to tell you that you could be paying less o your bill.
Summary: Prices will inevitably fluctuate – To avoid protect yourself from price increases, look for fixed contracts and price promises.
Cheap Energy for Life
Automatic switching is to energy as SlothMove is to moving home – the future! 2019 has seen the rise of automatic switching services such as Migrate, Look After My Bills and Switchd. These services not only take the work out of comparing energy on comparison websites and switching ourselves, they will save you more money as they will be comparing your tariff to other tariffs every month! Each of these services take no more than 3 minutes to sign up and save you money on your energy bills – get started below!
Look After My Bills – the company who got the best ever deal on Dragon’s Den! They’ve helped save over 200,000 people switch away from ‘rip-off tariffs. LAMB are a transparent company and receive the same commission from each energy company – so they won’t favour one supplier over another. Click here to see how much you could save.
Switchd help you save £100 more than comparison sites. Not only do they switch for you, they will save you more – win, win! Switchd allow you to take control by personalising your switches by asking if you’d like all green tariffs only and specifying a minimum saving amount before they switch you. Get started now!