Which? urges British Gas boycott

Which? started campaign at gas works in London

Influential monthly consumer magazine Which? is calling on British Gas customers to switch suppliers in order to avoid a price increase imposed by the former gas monopoly.

British Gas said last month that it plans to up its prices by around 5% from January 2002, blaming an increase in wholesale energy costs.

The move, which is expected to add around £17 a year to the average gas bill, followed an initial price hike in February last year.

In its current edition, Which? says British Gas is the country's second most expensive supplier, and urges more consumers to consider change to another provider.

Switching suppliers 'easy'

"Consumers fed up with the second British Gas price rise in 10 months should remember they have the power to do something - It's easy to switch," Which? editor Helen Parker said.

The Consumers' Association, owners of Which?, is also pushing British Gas to stop preventing customers who have not settled their bills from changing to another supplier.

Consumer groups claim that 'debt blocking' unfairly penalises the poorest subscribers.

British Gas has around 13.5 million individual subscribers, accounting for around 70% of all UK households.

Around 6.3 million British Gas subscribers have switched to a different supplier in the last three years.

Customer inertia and a lack of access to full price information are the most common reasons for subscribers staying put.

British Gas is owned by Centrica, which also owns the AA breakdown service and the OneTel telecom company.