Energy firms 'quiet about deals'

Most companies have launched cheaper deals in the last 12 months

The failure of energy companies to promote cheaper deals costs their consumers £2.5bn a year, warns an online comparison service.

Moneysupermarket.com says average households could save £150 a year by moving to a better deal with their current gas and electricity suppliers.

It wants firms to notify existing customers when they launch more competitive deals.

Suppliers insist the UK energy market is already "fiercely competitive".

'Money spinner'

Moneysupermarket says all six of the big energy companies have updated or launched cheaper tariffs in the past 12 months.

Allowing existing customers to languish on old tariffs is a money-spinner, but it doesn't help build trust or loyalty Paul Schofield, Moneysupermarket

But with nearly two-thirds of customers remaining on providers' standard deals, it argues the average household is losing £150 a year by not taking advantage of cheaper offers.

It says an average customer on Scottish Power's standard dual-fuel tariff could save £188 year by moving to one of the company's online products.

"Energy providers rarely, if ever, tell existing consumers about cheaper options, as the more expensive tariffs allow them to offset the great deals they offer," said Paul Schofield, head of utilities at Moneysupermarket.com.

"Allowing existing customers to languish on old tariffs is a money-spinner, but it doesn't help build trust or loyalty," he added.

'Good business sense'

Moneysupermarket wants the current obligation for suppliers to tell customers about changes to their existing tariff extended to cover new deals as well.

"Banks adhere to a Banking Code, so why can't energy providers adopt a set of standards to be fair and transparent with their customers when they launch cheaper products?" he said.

Suppliers offer a wide range of options so that customers can choose which is best for them Energy Retail Association

The industry watchdog which represents the interests of consumers gave its backing to the call for suppliers to do more to promote cheaper deals.

"Surely it's good business sense to try to retain the customers a company already has," said energywatch spokesman Graham Kerr.

"If providers introduce new and innovative deals, offering them to existing customers gives them an incentive to stay rather than switch to a separate company," he added.

But the Energy Retail Association (ERA), the trade body which represents suppliers, insisted that the UK market was already "fiercely competitive", with four million households changing provider during 2006.

"Energy suppliers spend millions of pounds each year advertising new products to customers in order to compete effectively with other players in the market," said ERA chief executive Duncan Sedgwick.

"Suppliers offer a wide range of options so that customers can choose which is best for them."

He said the existing requirement to notify customers of any changes to existing tariffs often acted as a "trigger" for people to look for a new deal.

And he added that comparison services like Moneysupermarket played an important role in ensuring that the best new tariffs were "always in the public eye".