Brits catch on to the energy switching game

New research reveals that Britons are getting into the energy switching habit with more than 13 million households - 51% - claiming to have switched energy suppliers at least once, says uSwitch.com, the independent online comparison and switching service.

However, while those who have switched have saved around £1.7 billion in total, there are still further savings to be made, and a long way to go, before consumers become seasoned switchers and start making competition work for them.

The study provides an in-depth look at energy switching today and shows where in the UK switching is hot, and where it’s not. It identifies that there are still around 9 million switching ‘virgins’ left in the UK who stand to save around £206 per household - £1.9 billion in total. There’s good news too for those who have already switched before. The average length of time since their last switch is just over 18 months and repeat switchers now look set to share in a £1 billion windfall, just by switching again.

The biggest driver for switching is the high cost of energy bills (58%) while 9% switch because their providers’ customer service is not up to scratch. The switching market looks likely to grow too as 53% of households say that they intend to change energy providers in the near future.

The UK’s switching hotspots, where greater numbers of households have changed suppliers, can be found in the North of England and Scotland. Aberdeen, where over half (58%) have switched, is the UK’s top energy switching spot, while London, where 58% of households are yet to switch energy providers.

Ann Robinson, Consumer Policy Director at uSwitch.com, says: “Consumers are warming up, wising up and starting to win the energy switching game.It’s almost 10 years since we started to have a choice as to who our energy suppliers are and this study is a timely reminder of what we can achieve if we shop around for energy deals in the same way as we would a holiday or a mobile phone. However, although we are warming up to switching, we are still not using all our powers as consumers to make the energy market work for us.

“I would urge the switching ‘virgins’ to let go of their inhibitions and begin to benefit from competition. While those who have switched before should make sure that it becomes a regular habit – energy deals and customer service levels change so you can’t afford to let the grass grow under your feet.

“Switching works and it works well – consumers can save themselves money and keep the energy companies on their toes. If anybody questions the value of competition in the energy market I would point out how hard the suppliers are beginning to compete for customers now – that’s with only half of consumers switching – imagine what would happen if the rest joined in.”

Biggest savings: switchers in Birmingham have so far made the biggest average saving per household - £143.28.Edinburgh comes next at £139.44 per household followed by Liverpool with £134.52.

Biggest potential savings: if consumers switched now Newcastle stands to be the biggest winner with a saving of £236 per householdfollowed by Liverpool and Leeds, both at £223 per household.

Frequent switchers: people in Brighton are the most trigger happy – switching the most at 2.38 times per household over the last 10 years.