Customers To Switch Energy Firms In 24 Hours

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

Consumers should not need to be "stock market analysts" to be able to switch energy firms simply, the Energy Secretary has said.

Ed Davey said he was preparing to introduce plans to make it simpler for "ordinary people" to be able to find the cheapest tariffs.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Davey said that he was introducing a number of measures, which will be unveiled in his yearly review in the House of Commons later today, to help customers reduce their bills.

He said that people would be easily able to find out the cheapest tariff on offer from their current supplier and that bills would have QR (quick response) codes on them which people could scan with their mobile phones to enable them to switch to the cheapest provider.

He said that volunteers, including people from the Citizens Advice Bureau and Age UK, would be available in the community to help people face-to-face to work out what was the best thing for them.

Mr Davey said: "This is the way to make sure you don't have to be a stock market analyst to switch but ordinary people, people who wouldn't normally think of witching are given the support to switch."

He said that he had switched this year as part of a collective and saved £200 on his annual bill.

The big six energy firms are under fire over pricing

The Energy Secretary, who has said customers should be able to switch in just 24 hours, is expected to say later today that the Bix Six energy firms will be subject to rigorous checks in three key areas - competition, profit and customer engagement.

It follows a storm of controversy around energy prices after four of the big six companies raised prices by an average of 9.1%, causing customer bills to exceed £1,400 a year and leading to allegations of cartel behaviour.

The annual check is designed to drive up competition in the market, which is still heavily dominated by the big six.

Despite a number of new entrants to the market, British Gas, SSE, Powergen, EDF, E.ON and Scottish Power still provide gas and electricity to 99% of British homes.

The annual review will aim to crack down on practices seen as preventing new firms from entering the market.

One supposed method revealed earlier this week involved British Gas. The energy giant was said to have a dedicated team that contacted customers who had switched away and offered them lower rates to go back.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, managing director of Ovo Energy, made the claims at a select committee hearing in which companies faced MPs.

Sources told Sky News the review would also look at how to force companies to offer clearer information to customers who want to switch and to reduce the time it takes to change companies.

There are already plans to reduce the number of tariffs on offer so that customers can easily compare them.

And the review will be expected to push companies to be more transparent about their profits.

While companies say they only make margins of around 5% on their retail products, they enjoy much bigger percentages in power generation - and the profits made through trading are not disclosed.

The review will be carried out by three regulators - Ofgem, the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Markets Authority.

A source said the plans were "very much about transparency and asking the (big six) to open their books".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who admitted he was with one of the Big Six, told lbc during his weekly question session: "If the Big Six are going to keep their customers with them, they must be straightforward with them. Ed Davey is going to explain in Parliament how to switch in 24 hours to show it is easy - and I think this will make a dramatic difference."

 :: Watch Energy Secretary Ed Davey give his energy statement live on Sky News from 11.15am.

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