price comparison websites, not mixing and matching Tariffs

Telenikros

I volunteer has a Finacial advise at the Citizens Advice, and with doing this one thing that came across was that every price comparison website including the MSE Cheap energy Club, does not mix and match Tariffs with energy providers.

This came to mind as a couple of weeks ago i was helping a client and uswitch.com stated that nPowers 1 year tariff would be cheaper for the client. The client used very little gas as she lived in a old peoples sheltered accommodation.

Now after looking at the prices myself on the npower website it didn't look right to myself so I gave them a call and it worked out with the clients usage that putting the client on the 2 year tariff for the electricity and a standard tariff for the Gas worked out £30 a year cheaper due to their being no Standing Charge on the Standard Tariff for the Gas with nPower. So having a Mix and Match of the 2 tariff's worked outcheaper for the client.

Now what I want to know is how much could people save if the price comparison websites including the Cheap Energy Club had a Tariff Mix and Match feature built into them?

JJ_Egan

Tariff mix and match as in gas from supplier A and electric from B .
They all have tick boxes for individual suppliers .
Many do just that price gas then price electric .
I am in the process of such a switch .
Though i do agree that comparison sites should be dumbed down to the lowest user .

Nikiya

I really find this price comparison issue quite dodgy.... CEC are clearer because they specify they are comparing based on a projection of your current tariff, even if it is due shortly- Others don't,. but do not explain it, at least not clearly. Besides I am getting wildly different results in most sites. I do not understand what you mean by "mix and match".... using a combination of providers of each service or including different tariffs from the same provider?

System

I am not sure that I understand the issue here. All comparison sites allow consumers to compare dual fuel and gas and electricity separately. All accredited comparison sites have to follow the OFGEM Confidence Code and use their savings methodology. MSE CEC and theenergyhelpline.com, inter alia, do a simple annual cost comparison as well.

If Citizens Advice is recommending NPower at the moment then I worry. They are not the cheapest supplier, have poor feedback and, after the recent news, I suspect pretty low staff morale. I am with Zog for gas and GBEnergy for electricity. A switch to NPower would cost me £100 a year more. I appreciate that different usage and postcodes result in varying results.

Telenikros

At the citizens Advice we do not recommend any supplier, lets get that straight.

We help our clients use the price comparison websites find their cheapest deal, then advise the clients if one would be cheaper for them due to the Warm home discount as this is not shown on the websites, then once the client has selected the company they wish to go with wethen offer help for the client to help them to sign up with that company!

Now the issue here is, if I go onto any price comparison website, select that the client uses both Gas and Electricity then enter their KWh for the entire year, the website shows results for the Gas and Electric being on the SAME TARIFF, it never shows the price if the user were to go onto a 1 year tariff for the Gas and a 2 year Tariff for the Electricity Which could be cheaper due to the price per KWh and the standing charge per day changing between the two tariffs and the usage of the user.

So what I am asking is, how much could people save if they where to actually look into this and instead of going onto the price comparisons top options which always have the two forms of energy on the same tariff. Could people save money by having the Gas on one Tariff and the Electric on one of the other four tariffs, or even a second company which the price comparison websites do not show.

As I have advised clients before with Ebico do not charge a standing charge so if they are a low gas user then having them as the gas supplier but having another supplier has the Electric can work out cheaper but non of the comparison websites show this

JJ_Egan

One would think action from CAB would help this matter .

Bark01

You just have to run 2 quotes, one for electricity and one for gas.

Telenikros

JJ Egan, I haven't been in for the past 2 weeks due to a Flu and Chest infection but I am actually going to speak to my supervisor about this and if we can start a investigation about this

SamNRG

To be honest, I'm in favour of running two separate comparisons if wanting to select a separate supplier for gas, and a separate supplier for electricity.

There are a lot of suppliers and tariffs, so I can't begin to imagine what a "mix and match" results table would look like. I imagine it would be very confusing for a large number of people, particularly the people who have never switched before.

Perhaps people could be made more aware that by selecting different suppliers for gas and electricity a larger saving could be made, but I wouldn't think a "mix and match" results table would be a good idea.

System

Telenikros wrote: »

JJ Egan, I haven't been in for the past 2 weeks due to a Flu and Chest infection but I am actually going to speak to my supervisor about this and if we can start a investigation about this

I think that you are making something out of nothing. That said, the CMA is about to scrutinise energy comparison sites in the coming year and there is the opportunity to comment. It also looks likely that Citizen's Advice will in future be running the only comparison site which is required to show all available tariffs if BBC MoneyBox is to be believed.

Farway

Hengus wrote: »

That said, the CMA is about to scrutinise energy comparison sites in the coming year and there is the opportunity to comment. It also looks likely that Citizen's Advice will in future be running the only comparison site which is required to show all available tariffs if BBC MoneyBox is to be believed.

I heard that, hidden way down in the CMA report it seems, comparision sites in future will only need to show those suppliers that pay them, lower no payers left out

CAB will be only site left to show all, and that does not have a "click through" facility

Back to the future, a zillion tarrifs with comparison sites commision only or back door hidden deals