Save on energy bills
HUNDREDS of thousands of Victorian households are paying inflated electricity and gas prices because they don’t shop around, an expert warns.
Up to half of all customers don’t regularly review costs and are charged a premium that adds hundreds of dollars to annual bills, Vinnies spokesman Gavin Dufty said.
His latest analysis of Victorian tariffs suggests such households could save at least $300 a year on electricity and at least $100 on gas by demanding a better deal from their retailer or switching to a competitor.
The estimates relate to average-consumption households with combined electricity and gas and no solar panels.
As winter heating costs bite, Mr Dufty urged consumers to check whether a better rate was available.
“If you haven’t spoken to your retailer to update your deal or shopped around you are being dudded,” Mr Dufty said.
About 10 per cent of Victorians were on default prices known as ‘standing offers’ because they had never looked for an alternative. These were typically the most expensive. However, Mr Dufty said many customers on ‘market offers’ were also being “fleeced” because they did not actively negotiate a new deal once generous discounts linked to one or two-year contracts lapsed.
“We estimate as many as 50 per cent of Victorians are paying well above the odds.
“There are those that have never shopped around, and those that also end up paying a premium because they simply accept what their company offers when their contract expires. “What you need to do is turn the heat up and actively negotiate when those contracts end, and not assume that the new rates offered are the best available.”
Bundling gas and electricity with the same retailer was sometimes, but not always, the cheapest option.
Switching electricity retailers could be done within a month because smart meters allowed for remote rather than manual meter readings.
Customers had to wait up to two months to swap gas companies.
An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission electricity prices inquiry has been told a confusing array of discounts and conditions makes shopping around too daunting for many.
Some percentage discounts were off entire bills, others off use and not supply, and others linked to direct debit and/or pay-on-time conditions. The highest advertised percentage discount was not necessarily best value.
The Consumer Action Law Centre has proposed introducing clearer comparisons, including displaying base rates and the average expected cost per year for a low, medium and high use.