How to make the big switch: it’s a lot easier than you think!
Switching could take the pain out of hikes in energy prices by seven suppliers in recent months.
‘Most were electricity increases, but we’re still seeing rises in wholesale gas markets, so it’s possible we may see hikes in the gas market too,’ said Eoin Clarke.
‘Switching energy is a no-brainer – it’s quick and easy, and all suppliers use the same pipes and cables so the supply stays the same, no matter what supplier you’re with.’
Many suppliers are also now offering cashback to people who switch to them.
‘This can be appealing,’ says the Switcher boss. ‘But make sure you check the unit rate you’ll be paying on the plan before signing up. If you have a reasonably high consumption, you will often be better off foregoing the cashback and opting for a plan with a lower rate.’
Switcher.ie research shows that there are many different reasons why people might be put off switching. Some don’t want to get tied into a contract, or can’t tell if a new supplier would save them money. Or maybe switching seems like too much hassle.
But most energy contracts are for just 12 months, so you don’t need to be tied down for long. And, in fact, switching every 12 months is how you make the biggest savings.
Many energy price plans include introductory discounts on your standard unit rate, the site will ask when you signed up to your current price plan so it will take into account any expiring discounts when calculating your results.
For example, if you were with Bord Gáis for three years, your bill is probably around €1,808, based on average usage according to Switcher.ie. (We’re not singling out Bord Gáis, you’d save money no matter what supplier you have, as we’ll show below).
A few seconds on a comparison site will show that the best deal for dual fuel (Energia) would cost €1,454.86 – saving you €353.30.
If you go to separate suppliers for gas and electricity – Flogas and Energia in this case – you’d save €393.
It also works the other way around because the whole market is based on discounts that run out, followed by inertia when customers don’t bother switching and pay over the odds after that.
Let’s say you’re a customer of Energia. If you switched,
you’d save €343.55 by moving to Bord Gáis for a dual fuel deal.
That’s not the cheapest, by the way, but it’s pretty good.
Switcher have a special deal (watch out for those to save even more) with Just Energy, which would save you €400 on a dual-fuel package.
Again if you went separately for gas (Flogas) and electricity (Bord Gáis), you’d save even more – €438.74.
And yes, that’s right, Bord Gáis gives the best deal for electricity for switchers when we did this exercise.
All suppliers now compete across both fuel types competitively.