Energy provider loyalty leaves Brits out of pocket

British households languishing with the traditional gas and electricity provider for their region - the incumbent provider - are missing out on almost £2.5 billion in savings, according to research from moneysupermarket.com.

The UK's leading price comparison site found on average a British household can save £241 by swapping to the ‘best' online deal for their region - those in North Wales and Liverpool can save the most, an impressive £260 a year. However, almost half of all bill payers (48 per cent) remain loyal to their incumbent provider and haven't swapped to a better deal, according to the latest Ofgem research3.

Scott Byrom, utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com said: "It's worrying to see that at a time when every penny counts almost half of British bill payers are considerably out of pocket by languishing on the standard tariff from their incumbent provider. Worse still, Ofgem revealed that on average 75 per cent of all the energy giants' electricity profits are earned from these customers - those living in the provider's traditional area3.

"I would urge anyone who is unhappy with the cost of their bills to move to an online tariff with paperless billing as soon as possible, and reap the rewards of being on the cheapest deal available. It's true that despite this year's price cuts4 the impact of last year's unprecedented price hikes is still hitting wallets hard so it's crucial to take action immediately to cut costs where ever possible. There are definitely savings to be had by taking ownership of your bills and staying savvy to the best deals on the market.

"The benefits of paying by monthly direct debit are clear - it's quick, accurate and allows easy management of bills. As well as spreading the cost of your bills over the year an online account puts you back in charge of your bill by providing the option to give an accurate meter reading directly to your provider. By removing ‘guess-timation' you are less likely to over pay and be out of pocket, or on the flip side, under pay and become in debt to your provider."