MSE News: Energy users are put off switching because they haven't heard of the... 7 September 2017 at 4:59PM in Energy 42 replies 4.8K views

Former_MSE_Callum

Not knowing whether the cheapest energy firms are "any good" is the most common reason householders are reluctant to switch energy, according to a poll of 3,500 MoneySavers....

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'Energy users are put off switching because they haven't heard of the cheapest firms, MSE poll finds'

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KTF

MSE in promoting its switching site and 'special' EDF switching deal shocker

Caddyman

I'll admit, I'm one of those people. I'm not going to shift to an energy company I've never heard of and know little about, save for what I can find out using a popular search engine.

I'm on a two year fix with Npower which I signed up to last year and nothing else on the market currently being offered is cheaper, including OneSelect who are currently the cheapest out of all of the energy providers based on my current useage and just £15 a year more than my current Npower fix.

The fact is, even if I was on a tariff that was up to £50 a year MORE than the cheapest independent energy supplier, I still wouldn't switch? Why? because I know where I stand and I know that my present supplier has a pretty huge presence and could possibly weather the storm if the energy market went through really tough times.

At the end of the day, it's up to these small independent energy providers to 'sell' themselves and get themselves established as household names before I would even consider making a switch. I guess though if they advertise themselves as much as BG do on the TV, they wouldn't be able to afford to flog their energy cheaper. Also, at least one independent energy company makes you pay up front in advance for a month's energy before you even start, based I believe on consumption figures one provides from their previous supplier. I've read their blurb and I understand why they do it, but they're not having my money up front.

As far as I'm concerned, whilst the vast majority of households with the big six continue to display total apathy to even switching away from their current providers standard variable tariff, they're subsidising people like me who don't mind making a 10 minute free phone call and being shifted to a cheaper tariff without even switching energy provider.

Peteyboy

My British Gas deal finishes on 3rd Oct so did a comparison and Eversmart was the cheapest so I am going with them, how are these company's meant to get a start if we all dismiss them, I believe its company's like this that are stopping the prices going even higher at least with things like car insurance TV Broadband etc you can haggle but the energy company's are not interested in loyalty just getting as much money for the shareholders as they can, I have been with a few of the big 6 over the years and had some extremely bad dealings with them. I will let you all know how good or bad my choice is in the coming months

System

Caddyman wrote: »

At the end of the day, it's up to these small independent energy providers to 'sell' themselves and get themselves established as household names before I would even consider making a switch. I guess though if they advertise themselves as much as BG do on the TV, they wouldn't be able to afford to flog their energy cheaper. Also, at least one independent energy company makes you pay up front in advance for a month's energy before you even start, based I believe on consumption figures one provides from their previous supplier. I've read their blurb and I understand why they do it, but they're not having my money up front.

If we all followed your line of thinking then we wouldn’t have 50 odd suppliers. The truth of the matter is that your supply and credit balance are better protected now than, say, with your broadband contract. Suppliers pay for the energy that they sell on to you in advance of supply: what is wrong with them asking you for some cash in advance of supply? I pay for my insurance, broadband, telephone and car tax in advance and I have no credit protection if the supplier goes bust.

FWIW, I have had good and appalling service from suppliers big and small over the past few years. For example, I had excellent service from GBEnergy. Yes, they went bust but my credit balance was repaid in full within a couple of months. I am now with two small suppliers and their service/billing over the past 4 months is on par with the best. I don’t therefore follow your logic; particularly, as one of the Big 6 is currently under Ofgem investigation.

harz99

Just started a switch from NPower to OVO, slightly cheaper than existing deal but an extra year as two year fix.

This will be the first time I've switched to a smaller supplier, in the past it's always been whatever is the best deal with a big 6 company, time for a change and fingers crossed things will go smoothly.

FWIW, the only big 6 supplier that I've never had issues with was EDF, but I think I may just have been lucky there.

Caddyman

Hengus wrote: »

If we all followed your line of thinking then we wouldn’t have 50 odd suppliers. The truth of the matter is that your supply and credit balance are better protected now than, say, with your broadband contract. Suppliers pay for the energy that they sell on to you in advance of supply: what is wrong with them asking you for some cash in advance of supply? I pay for my insurance, broadband, telephone and car tax in advance and I have no credit protection if the supplier goes bust.

FWIW, I have had good and appalling service from suppliers big and small over the past few years. For example, I had excellent service from GBEnergy. Yes, they went bust but my credit balance was repaid in full within a couple of months. I am now with two small suppliers and their service/billing over the past 4 months is on par with the best. I don’t therefore follow your logic; particularly, as one of the Big 6 is currently under Ofgem investigation.

I have never had the inconvenience of an energy company providing me with a utility, going bust.

As much as you may not appreciate my complete apathy toward not giving smaller independent energy providers a chance, it's my choice at the end of the day. I'm currently on a good deal, better than anything being currently offered by any of the cheapest independent companies. When my tariff ends, I'll review my circumstances, but I doubt it will involve taking similar leaps that you do, perhaps because I might be more risk averse when it comes to energy providers.

I see I'm not the only one who has tried to find out about alternative suppliers, and with little success to be honest. Most of them don't seem to give any real information in their 'About Us' blurb on their websites either:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5697009

fredandwilma

Hengus wrote: »

If we all followed your line of thinking then we wouldn’t have 50 odd suppliers. The truth of the matter is that your supply and credit balance are better protected now than, say, with your broadband contract.

However, the background of some of those 50 odd suppliers is debatable?

I personally, research any of the smaller unknown companies, and i certainly wouldn't use a company with little information available or with a director who has owned previous companies which have gone into liquidation, for instance.

Conversely, maybe for the uninitiated, maybe you would see a company you haven't heard of offering a low price and be tempted to use that company surely, if you are influenced solely by price?

I wonder where MSE published last months poll? 3500 respondents, but the poll seems to have passed me by. I never saw it.

Caddyman

harz99 wrote: »

Just started a switch from NPower to OVO, slightly cheaper than existing deal but an extra year as two year fix.........

As a matter of interest, as OVO do charge in advance for energy, how much is your first payment going to be on switching? I understand from what I've read, that the amount is based upon figures provided relating to previous billing from your old supplier? If for instance your monthly direct debit was £65 for electricity and £45 for gas, would they be asking you to stump up at least £110 before you even start? From some of the reviews I've read into this company, this is exactly what they appear to do? By all means, if one is happy to do that, then great.

However, I've also read a lot of reviews by some extremely unhappy customers relating to being billed this way, which seems a little odd as they must have known what they were letting themselves in for when they signed up? Or perhaps, the amount they were expecting to stump up as an advance payment, far exceeded the amount they had planned for?

I'm also with Npower. Granted yours and my energy useage may be worlds apart, but I'm guessing you didn't switch to Npower's June 2018 Feel Good Fix last year? I did, and there's nothing that is presently cheaper, so I'll be sticking with them until June 2018, unless the energy market prices suddenly tumble, then I'll switch, but on past experience with Npower, they do seem to offer up cheaper tariffs regularly enough, you just have to be bothered to keep on top of them. This is why I like CheapEnergyClub, because although you do get notified of cheaper deals, you can still log in and check regularly. My cheap energy notification, is set at £50 per annum saving, so if any provider comes up with a saving of £50 or more, I'll get the email. However, nothing has come close for months because there is nothing cheaper for me to switch to. I have an annual energy bill of £670, which for two people in a 3 bed semi, is pretty cheap compared to lots of households.

ChaunceyGardiner

Caddyman wrote: »

When my tariff ends, I'll review my circumstances, but I doubt it will involve taking similar leaps that you do, perhaps because I might be more risk averse when it comes to energy providers.

What risk?

CL47

The issue that put me off switching to one of the smaller and cheaper energy companies was that all of them require you to sign up to a "budget" account with a supposedly "fixed" monthly payment. In practice this so-called fixed amount miraculously rises (upward-only reviews) and if you disagree with what is being taken you have to go through the pfaff of challenging the company each time. In practice the customer usually builds up a hefty credit balance. While that is returned at the end of the annual cycle, it is "free" money for the energy company in the meantime and the customer is stood out of pocket until the annual review. I opted for one of the "Big6" paying a little extra for a quarterly "in arrears" direct debit payment for energy actually used.