60% of Mumsnetters have never switched energy supplier. Have you?

[RebeccaMumsnet]

Hi all,

We recently asked our Insight panel about their experiences of energy switching for collective bargaining site The Big Deal. We wanted to understand how you’ve found energy switching; if you’ve managed to save any money and, if you haven’t been able to switch, why not.

It turned out that 60% of the Mumsnetters we asked had never switched. The top reasons why not included:

1. It’s difficult to know what the best deal is over time, since offers are always changing
2. MNers are too busy to take the time to switch
3. Price comparison sites are hard to understand, with hundreds of options, tariffs, kilowatt hours, etc
4. Switching won’t make a difference because prices keep going up

In response, The Big Deal have created a site which they say is specifically for people who don’t switch, in order to make it easy for you to move providers. You fill in a simple form (which they say takes less than 60 seconds), then they go to work to find the best deal for you. More than 10,000 people have signed up in the five weeks since the site launched, and The Big Deal says that by negotiating on behalf of so many consumers at once, they’re able to offer the best savings, and offers that aren’t available on other switching sites.

If you’d like to try it, click here, and meanwhile, please do tell us what you think about energy switching. Is it worth the effort? How much can you/did you save?

In the meantime, what are your experiences of switching energy supplier?

I switched following advice from a switching company who promised huge savings with the new provider. I saw these for the first month and then the bills shot up. Luckily the old company took me back with no additional charges. Since then I've been disinclined to look elsewhere.

I switched, not to reduce bills, but to be with an ethical provider (I think the only two at the moment are Good Energy and Ecotricity). If I'm going to pay £££ I'd rather it went towards something positive like more renewable energy rather than just shareholder profits and executive bonuses.

I switched last year got £90 cashback and the bill is a bit less, although I dont have many choices as am on prepayment meters and most suppliers charge the same for those I think.

I run the price comparisons every year. It takes hours, and then turns out I will save £20 by switching. So I don't.

If you're foolhardy enough to put your details into uswitch, you'll find that you get a gazillion sales calls from energy companies for months afterwards. Doesn't matter if you indicated that you didn't want them.

yes we've switched to Ovo - I'm hoping its better but I've no idea really - I keep seeing them in the top 10 of energy providers with Which etc.

Before that I had a bad experience with Sainsburys which was in fact Scottish Energy .. befoe that British Gas - oh dear god .. so am sticking with Ovo as their website is clear and they communicate well.

I'd b willing to switch to anyone who will guarantee to give me a smart meter and stop all this speculative under billing designed to build up debt so you can't switch. They all seem to be be masters of reducing your direct debit, even though the higher direct debit didn't see to be covering what you were using anyway. Usually with some vague nonsense about 'seasonal usage' as justification.

I used to work for one of the big electricity companies and I switch all the time

I use uswitch and have done for years, I have never had the problem with follow up phone calls or contact from anyone unlike CalamitouslyWrong

I look for the best deal, usually fixed price, dual fuel, I supply the meter readings and have online billing and monthly direct debit.

We also take meter readings about once a month, stick it into a spreadsheet that DH designed which also shows a graph, so we can see our consumption not just what we are paying. We can also compare year on year and previous house to this house.

Part of the problem for consumers is that they don't supply a meter reading when a bill is estimated. I would always provide one for two reasons, firstly, it means the computer can estimate future bills more accurately because it is basing the consumption on actual readings. Secondly, if your consumption starts to increase they usually spot it quite quickly and then your direct debit would only rise by a small amount rather than a big jump.

I switch regularly. I'm in the middle of moving from EDF (who I've had no problems with) to Ovo. They are meant to be very good at customer service and based on my usage last year, they are the cheapest.

I switch every time my fixed deal comes to an end, but this time Ovo remained the cheapest and let me sign up to a cheaper deal. They are also (perhaps uniquely) an absolute pleasure to deal with.

I switched to edf from npower in November 2013. I moved house end of Jan 2014 and they still hadn't sorted it for the old house. Edf are now charging me for my new house, and a random amount each month for my old house. I can't get them to stop or explain why or give me my money back. I'm livid.

Yes me too, I have just moved to Ovo from EDF. Didn't have any problems with EDF but the MSE website said Ovo was cheaper and I could get £30 cashback. Was pleasantly surprised how easy it was, my only worry was that I would be massively in debit on my EDF account moving at the end of the winter period and have to pay a large final bill but I was actually £60 in credit which they credited to my bank account without having to chase it up. We have just got a new boiler too so I am hoping that when I get a bill from Ovo my direct debits which are based on my previous year's consumption will decrease even further!

Switched to Good Energy long ago because at the time it was the biggest commitment available to renewable energy, and have never moved because that hasn't changed. Also they are very straightforward and easy to deal with.

Years ago before they got banned from doing it, we used to get doorstep calls from Scottish Power whose salesmen appeared to be trained in a specially patronising laugh whenever you said you were signed up with Good Energy. Fuck them. Daft approach because in fact at the time we were with Scottish Power for gas. As soon as Good Energy started doing gas too, we switched to them. But to be fair to Scottish Power, they have stuck to the no-more-doorstepping thing and they also paid our credit balance when we switched promptly and without a murmur.

I'm in the middle of switching just now. I was paying £100 p/m with British Gas (duel fuel) and now £65 p/m with EDF. British Gas were really taking the p*ss. I'm in a 2 bed flat where we're out all day and monthly costs rose from £60 to £100 in a year.

My top tip is when you're looking for a new quote (I used uswitch), put in your kW usage (which you'll need to work out from bills) not your monthly payment. Using the latter the best quote I got was £90 vs my existing £100. Actual usage gave me best quote of £60. About to start mat leave so def worthwhile!

Yes, I have switched, and even post-switch I have harried NPower to make sure we're on the cheapest tariff.

We did switch a few years ago to what we thought was a better deal.
The new provider totally messed our billing and sorting it out was a lot of hassle. We were tied in to them on a capped deal but as soon as we could we changed back.to the previous supplier.

Changed to First Utility but they are unreliable about sending monthly bills. When I chased them for a bill I was told that there was a problem with their data? !! Not had a bill for 3 months now. Going to change suppliers again in August.

I've switched several times.
Currently with ecotricity

We switched to Ovo for similar reasons to people above who've switched to Ovo and ecotricity. They cost slightly more but the service and ethics are better.

I continually switch. I have never had a problem. I use money saving expert to help me choose. I don't always choose the cheapest as I like to use one company for both and I like long term fixed details with no early exit penalties.

cointreau you should be able to leave your FITs account as it is. You don't need to take it to your new supplier. Although the process is simple if you do choose to take it.

Thanks Mike. I thought they were linked.

So Scottish Power would have to keep paying the FIT even if I decide to buy my electricity from elsewhere? Hmmm......

We were with EDF for bout 5yr and have recently switched to ecotricity mostly because my son loves baby oleg(I switched it through compare the meerkat) and also as I like the idea of their greener ideas! Need I add that baby oleg still hasn't arrived!!

Yes. I am PAYG meters and switched from N Power to Ebico as I was disgusted with standing charges. I went away and left my gas off last year and came back to £42 standing charges which had to be repaid and hadn't used £1 worth of gas. I now put £40pm on my electric key and atm with warmer weather about £30pm gas. I'm In a 3 bed council house with 3 dds so use a lot of electric. If I go away I don't have any standing charges and only pay for what I use. I am much better off and felt like I was constantly topping keys up with n power. Ebico the supply is through SSE but you are billed at Ebico tarrif. I am also fixed till 2015

Also Ebico customer services have been excellent and the bis are very simple as billed at one rate