Go compare fibbing about my existing energy costs?

gazter

My year is almost up with sainsbury's fixed april 2016 deal. I went to gocompare and put in my personal projection figures ive just received from sainsburys telling me they'll be putting me on standard rate at end of period.

Now, the sainsburys document lays out the current tariff and then its shows what the cost would be on the standard tariff.

Current tariff:
gas £753.22 based on using 21,207kwh
electricity £995.63 based on using 9,361kwh

The standard tariff is listed next to it:
gas £891.28 based on using 21,207kwh
electricity £1,302.29 based on using 9,361kwh

So i toodle off to gocompare and put the usage numbers in and put my existing fixed rate in, it tells me £618 annual saving from my current tariff. That seems an awfully big saving, so i look what it says my current spend, and im shocked to see that what it claims to show is my current tariff is nothing of the sort, it is showing the standard tariff, exaggerating the savings from switching, the real saving would not be the £618 claimed, but £172.




Anybody else encountered this?

JJ_Egan

Current =No Standard tariff is the norm complain to the regulator its their requirements .See multiple identical posts .

System

OFGEM requires comparison sites to follow what is known as The Confidence Code. A key element of this Code is a requirement to use what is known as the 'inflated savings methodology'. The underpinning assumption is that the default situation is that the consumer will do nothing at the end of a fixed term tariff and default to the supplier's standard variable tariff.

The calculation goes like this:

One month to run on present tariff followed by 11 months on standard variable = the cost for the next 12 months.

Customer switches to new fixed tariff so inflated cost leads to inflated savings.

Sites such as MSE CEC now offer the OFGEM methodology, and what is an easier to understand 12 months present tariff compared to 12 months on new tariff.

If you are unhappy, then report your concerns to consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk

[Deleted User]

OFGEM seem to think that everyone who is on a nice low fixed yearly deal and it ends suddenly become complete idiots and prefer to pay top whack again on a standard/variable tariff and the comparison sites can therefore claim a higher saving for using their websites. Similar to people who prefer to auto renew with the same insurance/breakdown companies every year and pay at least 25% more. ..Do the sums yourself using the tariff/standing charges..its easy enough to compare prices that way

gazter

Hengus wrote: »

OFGEM requires comparison sites to follow what is known as The Confidence Code. A key element of this Code is a requirement to use what is known as the 'inflated savings methodology'. The underpinning assumption is that the default situation is that the consumer will do nothing at the end of a fixed term tariff and default to the supplier's standard variable tariff.

The calculation goes like this:

One month to run on present tariff followed by 11 months on standard variable = the cost for the next 12 months.

Customer switches to new fixed tariff so inflated cost leads to inflated savings.

Sites such as MSE CEC now offer the OFGEM methodology, and what is an easier to understand 12 months present tariff compared to 12 months on new tariff.

If you are unhappy, then report your concerns to [EMAIL="consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk"]consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

Im sure ofgem doesnt say "lie to your customers and explicitly say that you are comparing your existing deal with a new deal and represent that as a saving". Gocompare could quite easily state that comparison was with standard rate not existing deal. I would not have known had i not had the figures in front of me. Utterly dishonest behaviour.

System

Have a read of this submission to last year's Parliamentary Review of comparison sites:

https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/54da24ebed915d514400000b/The_Energy_Shop_Submission.pdf