Why should I switch suppliers? Can I win the Gas and Electricity price wars?
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Why should I switch suppliers? Can I win the Gas and Electricity price wars?
By: Lewis Taylor

We can all benefit from the current situation in the UK energy market but what should we do, who should we choose?

Our attitudes towards switching suppliers leaves us open to exploitation by the huge Energy companies who have our misguided loyalty. We aren't happy with the situation yet we do nothing.

Are we all guilty of switching off as soon as we hear about a cheaper supplier or are we just that lazy? I hear some people talk of their fear of switching suppliers in case the prices are hiked up on them or their previous supplier becomes cheaper.

None of us are too lazy to stretch a few more miles out of the fuel tank as we drive around looking for a cheaper service station, of course we've probably just wasted fuel in getting there and caused minor damage to our cars by pulling debris from the bottom of the tank through the engine. Why is it that we would go through such efforts to save money and still do nothing about our energy bills?

The big suppliers who we give our loyalty to are simply making money from our laziness and ignorance. We think nothing of spending hours ringing around insurance companies or surfing the net for better deals for our mobile phones, we'll even consider switching bank accounts for a better deal or £100 cashback. With our ability to find the best deals why is it that we seem to always overlook one of the most simplest ways of saving money.

We can't blame the suppliers, there are some great deals out there to be had, even with great customer service figures too - but as the Great British public carry on moaning about the cost of Gas and Electricity, we still refrain from switching. After all - what could we moan about then!

What seems to be stuck in our minds is that when the market was deregulated, armies of door knockers were mobilized and sent out in their hundreds to catch us just as we sat down for our dinner. By switching our suppliers with them we might have a brand new Bentley on our drives go off for a 3 month cruise around the Carribean! Ok maybe not but you get the idea. People were writing into TV's Watchdog in their masses complaining about how they haven't saved any money or they haven't received a statement for 9 months and just got hit with a huge bill. Nowadays, there are very tight regulations that energy companies must adhere to in order to satisfy it's customers.

This gave us all a perfect excuse to do nothing, We could be blissfully happy knowing that we could do nothing and not feel guilty about it. Of course now we haven't got that excuse, Energywatch keeps a close eye on things for our piece of mind and still millions UK households waste £millions every year by not switching to cheaper suppliers. One comparsion I can note from recent times was a gentleman who had never switched before, he saved £330 a year. If that was our insurance quote or mobile phone bill, we'd be patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. According to price comparison sites such as Money Angels, many of these cheaper suppliers actually offer a better level of customer service too.

In answer to the question posed earlier, we can win out of the Energy price wars, we just have to shop around and realise that it takes no time at all to switch, and if we want to switch again, we can simply do so. Suppliers only require 28 days notice and there are many companies that will take care of the whole switch for you. The key is for us all to stop complaining and do something about, only then will we all be winning consumers in the Energy price wars.

 

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