Is this the new energy mis-selling?

kevin.nicholls

Had an "interesting" conversation with Southern Electric today.

They claimed that ALL the comparison sites are dishonest. They ALL only promote energy companies which give them the most commission and should NOT be relied upon at all .. except UKpower, which is independant.

I'm switching away from them to Ovo after running comparisons on various sites and coming up with roughly the same answers.

SE first of all claimed their cheapest tarriff would be £47pa cheaper than Ovo .. which turned out to be a big fat lie. They changed this to admitting that Ovo would be a tenner cheaper. They then gave me a figure for a year's usage which was £765 -- which is £120 more than Ovo say they'll charge for the same usage (£642), or about £85 more than the comparison sites' average (£680ish).

SE insist, however, that the only way to get a true figure is the deal with the companies direct .. which presumably saves them having to pay any commission, and makes it tougher to switch if you have to spend all day on the phone to half-a-dozen energy firms.

If SE really believe these sites are worthless, I'm (a) shocked they allow their own tarrifs to be included and (b) didn't mention it when I switched to them in the first place.

rogerblack

Largely made-up.
However.
You should always, always, check the figures the comparison site gives you.
Check all of the details of your current tariff.
Check all the details of the tariff you're switching to.

davidgmmafan

Nothing new about it, just the same sort of dodgy practice door to door people have been employing for ages.

Same as with car insurance I'd check more than one comparison site. There are some gaps in comparison sites, in particular social tariffs (Staywarm in particular I think), but then it can be difficult to get details of these out of companies anyway.