A quick change from the usual classic transport and travel themes of this blog to look at "U Go Confuse a Meerkat Supermarket" websites.
Although I was born in Hampshire and have lived here for all but about 12 years, the only great grandparent I ever knew came originally from Yorkshire and I think the gene for being a bit canny with the money must be dominant. I don't mind spending money, but I do like to get best value and really dislike being ripped off.
When we moved into the current house, we were put onto the standard variable tariff with the existing energy supplier for as long as it took me to find a better deal. Our energy supplier for the past 3 years has been one of the small start up businesses that undercuts all the major suppliers. The downside is that their customer service is rubbish, but they are getting better. We have an annual fixed price deal which we renew about this time of the year.
This year, I thought it was about time to Confuse myself by Going and Comparing the Market. As I have accurate consumption data for the previous years, this should be easy.
So, entering the usual stuff; name, address, postcode, electrical consumption, gas consumption, type of property, current tariff, inside leg measurement, etc, it quickly came back with a long list of alternative suppliers, all of which were estimated to be around £200 cheaper than our current supplier. Even the "Big Six" energy companies were cheaper with their fixed price contracts.
I was, to say the least, a little sceptical, so investigated further. What they are doing is a little naughty. Actually, it is nothing short of outrageous!
As my current fixed rate tariff is coming to an end, they assume that I am going to transfer to the existing supplier's standard variable tariff and used that to make the comparisons. And they do not include any rates from my current supplier as they are not on comparison sites, presumably because they won't pay the commission. Even taking the cheapest of the suppliers proposed and comparing against the estimate from the current supplier, changing to a "cheaper" supplier would not save us the £200 suggested; it would cost us around £50 more!
I am sure that they cover themselves in the small print, but the bottom line is that comparison websites, even the ones with loud spoken consumer spokesmen who get themselves on the TV and radio are not helping you make an informed choice; they are making themselves a nice little commission from getting you to switch.
Although to give some balance, if you are still on a standard variable tariff or paying quarterly bills, they will undoubtedly help you save money (lots of money in most cases), but if you are already on a fixed rate with a small supplier, be very careful about what is presented as a "saving", especially as you need to look further than the headline "you will save this much" headline figure to find out how much you will actually be paying. And if you are interested, our supplier is "Extra Energy" and they are based in Birmingham
We'll get back to the usual topics next time!
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