Using comparison sites to switch to existing energy provider

smudge2013

I am currently with British Gas on the price cap. The switch tariffs on offer through the customer portal are rubbish. However on comparison sites they often put up much more competitive switch deals which seem to allow switches from new and existing customers. When completing switch forms, it is all very much worded around "old supplier" and "new supplier", which in this instance they are the same. Has anyone got experience of "switching" to the same supplier using a comparison site? Does the energy company just close down the existing energy account and then create a new one with a new customer number/direct debit? Thanks.

QrizB

Energy companies are prohibited by Ofgem from offering tariffs that are exclusively for new customers. They can however offer exclusive deals to switching sites that don't appear on their own websites or apps; these have to be open to existing customers too.

If you sign up that way I'd expect you to keep the same account number, DD etc.

bodorange

I switched via MSE energy comparison to the British Gas Collective Nov26 tariff. I was already a BG (DD) customer and I remained on my existing BG account following the switch. I did though encounter an issue where the rates quoted by BG in my tariff confirmation email differed from those that were shown in my online account and in subsequent billing. I never managed to get an explanation from them but did eventually get a credit compensating me for the discrepancy (70GBP based on my estimate over the course of the tariff). I think it is supposed to work for existing customers and probably does most of the time. But something, still unexplained, happened with my switch.

smudge2013

Just to update on this, the update of my tariff with British Gas was pretty smooth and my new tariff and price updated fairly quickly. They did setup a new direct debit (based on the details input when I made the switch), leaving my old direct debit redundant.

Bigphil1474

Same here. Think Compare the market were offering an electricity deal with BG which was about 6p a unit less than the best direct fix with BG. Switch from BG to BG went smoothly.