SWITCH TO SAVE CASH
CONSUMER groups last night urged customers to take action to land cheaper energy deals – and insisted there is help for pensioners.
Victoria Arrington, of price comparison website energyhelpline, said: “One can hardly keep count of all the price rises coming from the Big Six this year – it seems never-ending.
“This second price rise is a new blow for British Gas customers, affecting 3.5 million households.
“These continuous price rises can impact vulnerable and elderly people particularly hard.
“There are concerns that they may not realise how easy it is to switch.
“If they phone in, nearly everything can be handled on their behalf, meaning they could find the relief of a cheaper tariff with little effort.
“For instance, if British Gas’s standard variable tariff customers switched to the lowest on the market, they would save on average £406.”
Which? managing director of home products and services Alex Neill said: “This second price rise within the space of a few months will be infuriating for customers who have now seen their bills hiked by an average of £104 in six months.
“Before the energy price cap comes into effect later this year, customers stuck on poor value standard tariffs should look to switch as they could potentially save almost £400 a year.”
Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “It’s true that wholesale energy costs have risen markedly this year. But this latest increase from British Gas can also be seen as a pricing tactic ahead of the imposition of the Governmentled price cap this winter.
“The message is to switch to a cheaper fixed deal and save over £250 – way more than the most optimistic advocates of the cap are forecasting.”