Energy customers have to spend too much time on dealing with their energy contracts because of ‘deliberately confusing’ bills that put them off shopping around for a better deal, CentreForum has claimed.
CentreForum claimed that suppliers are operating a ‘confusopoly’ whereby customers are unable to work out whether or not they are getting a good deal because their bills are so baffling.
Just 19 per cent of businesses switched last year out of a potential 70% that were planning to switch, according to Ofgem, leaving businesses overpaying by hundreds if not thousands of pounds.
So are our suppliers really ensuring that only the clever clogs can understand the tariffs and switch to a better deal or is there another reason business owners aren’t switching?
As we’ve discussed before, it appears people have become apathetic. While they are aware of switching opportunities (because who could have missed all the hype surrounding it in the media, unless like Harry Potter you’ve been locked in a cupboard) they just can’t be bothered to look into it.
With domestic households looking to save just a few hundred pounds at best by switching, many businesses believe that their savings will also be minimal and what busy business owner can be motivated to trawl round comparison sites or suppliers for such a small return?
The truth is however that by engaging in the energy market, businesses could be saving thousands of pounds. In 2014 we saved our customers on average £1,865 on their energy contracts, a significant sum that even the most successful of businesses can find a better home for than into their energy supplier’s pockets
Critically however still far too few businesses are waking up to the reality of the savings available.
What’s missing is a focus on education on the potential rewards of switching to convince businesses to engage in the energy market as they would as domestic customers.
Sadly though there are all too few sources of information that can provide this education which is where we, in lieu of information being provided by Ofgem and the energy suppliers, have developed our dual level service:
Savings and education. The key to unlocking the business energy market.
‘Confusopoly’ has no home at Business Juice.