Energy customers beware of price cut promises

Switch with Which?, the energy switching service from consumer champion Which?, today warned gas and electricity customers to look again at the recent price cuts announced by energy suppliers, and not to assume that they will benefit from them.

“People should not take these price cuts and discount proposals at face value,” advises Eleanor Barnes at Which? “We’ve heard gasps of dissatisfaction from the press and from industry bodies about individual cuts, but the number of announcements will also leave some consumers unsure how to make the most of these changes. Consumers should use comparison sites such as switchwithwhich.co.uk to shop around and make sense of the new discounts that have been announced: they should not assume that their current supplier is offering the biggest savings. Many may be surprised to find that they benefit most from changing tariff, or even supplier.”

“It’s also worth remembering that many of the cuts will not take effect for another month or two, when the heaviest use of gas and electricity is safely over and bills will start to fall anyway. Although individuals cannot control the rates set by energy suppliers, we can take control of our own household bills by checking our price tariffs and switching to a cheaper one if appropriate. It doesn’t take long to compare what you’re currently paying with what you could be paying on a different tariff, so why pay more when you don’t have to? We encourage people to check for themselves what they could be saving, by comparing price tariffs online and if necessary, switching to another supplier and start saving.”

switchwithwhich.co.uk guides people through the switching process and helps them to find the best deal from the many tariffs offered by the different energy suppliers. It was set up by Which? to provide consumers with the independent and truly impartial information they need to make choices about energy suppliers and their tariffs, based on price and other aspects of the service that are important to them.

Barnes continues: “By using switchwithwhich.co.uk, it only takes about 10 minutes to compare price tariffs and switch online if you find you’re losing out. It’s so easy and takes so little time to see where you stand and you can save hundreds of pounds a year just by switching.”