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A new ruling from Ofgem has been hailed as a ‘watershed’ moment in the domestic energy market. New changes will mean that more customers should save on their energy bills at home. After this watershed moment, domestic energy users will now be forced to release the details of any customers that have been on one tariff for three years or more. Other energy companies will be allowed to market to them directly, letting them know about better details and hopefully encouraging them to switch. The Ofgem shake up came after another watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) argued that certain consumer groups were consistently getting a bad deal from the energy companies. Recently, the CMA warned that families who hadn’t switched their energy supplier in ten years had on average paid £3,000 more than necessary for their gas and electricity. ‘Disengaged’ customers, who don’t regularly switch their energy are far more likely to be on a worse tariff, because prices regularly fluctuate and special price offers regularly come to an end. Remarkably, a CMA report found that one third of the 7,000 people it surveyed did not realise that switching away from their current supplier was an option. Despite rate switching being one of the most effective ways for domestic energy users to get a better deal on their supply, it is clear that thousands of homeowners in the UK don’t realise they can switch. The right energy buyers shop around for their energy and they regularly monitor the market to see if there are any better deals. They are also careful with the advice that they choose. So what can non-domestic large energy buyers learn from the penny pinching families and savvy mums.

What can big energy users learn from savvy domestic shoppers

Shop around

Shopping around is unquestionably the right way to save money on domestic and non-domestic energy bills. It pays to visit as many suppliers as possible and search out the right price. Or, if you are a large energy user, you might prefer to enlist a professional energy broker to search around for the right deal for you.

Monitor the market regularly

In order to get the right deal, savvy family buyers monitor the market continuously to check that they are getting the right deal. The ‘constantly compare and save’ feature on MoneySavingExpert.com’s Cheap Energy Club is an easy way of automating this process. Larger energy users, meanwhile, would be better signing up with an energy broker, which will regularly check the market for them and negotiate a new contract every year.

Use the right tools for the job

There are all sorts of online tools for saving money on energy. For domestic energy customers, energy switching sites represent a fantastic way for smaller buyers to search the entire market in seconds. For larger energy users, however, the market is more complicated. And off-the-shelf solutions are rarely good enough for individual business needs. These users should use a professional service with in-depth market knowledge to scour the market for them.

Choose your switching service carefully

In this video below, aimed at domestic energy customers, MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis explains that some price comparison websites will hide the right deals and instead prefer to offer you ‘sponsored’ deals from their partners. A similar thing happens in the energy brokerage sector for large energy users. Some energy brokers work closely with certain suppliers and push their deals even though they might not be the right for the end-user. At Utility Helpline we visit the whole marketplace to secure the right deal. Follow the link to learn more about our services for large energy users or get in touch if you have any specific questions. Call: 0800 043 0423.