‘Belt and braces’ switching service prepares to launch

A new energy bill management and switching service designed to help the most vulnerable customers is due to launch next month.

Not-for-profit Butterfly Energy, founded by former PFP Energy chief operating officer Jo Gilbert, is a subscription service which offers total management of the accounts of energy customers.

At its full launch next month, Butterfly will offer two products: an account management service known as ‘customer utility bills expertly serviced’, or Cubes for short, and ‘Builder’, which will provide a range of energy generation and storage solutions. including end-to-end customer service, billing and a credit management hub for social housing providers and local authorities.

Ensuring a consumer’s account is in a “fit-to-bill” state, the Cubes service will provide a complete review and health check of the account with a customer’s existing supplier. It will then look to see whether a new tariff and/or supplier may be a better fit for customers, potentially making the switch for them.

Butterfly, which is owned by Preston-based Arpeggio Properties, will continually monitor energy bills to ensure consumers are paying for the correct usage and will deal with the communication between customer and supplier.

Speaking to Utility Week, Gilbert said customers pay a subscription of £15 per fuel, per year plus VAT – working out at £3 per month for dual fuel. This, she said, compares to a price comparison website commission per fuel of £34 to £48.

She further explained how the service will work: “Every month we check the account and provide a summary of all the checks. It will be like a tariff light system showing things we have done and actions we are taking.

“If we find something that isn’t right such as a billing error, or the account has failed direct debit adequacy meaning they are paying too much or too little, we check that as well.

“It’s like a belt and braces approach to all of the internal checks that a supplier will do. We are making sure they are fundamentally right and that it’s working for the consumer.”

When asked how her new service will differ from the auto-switching services that have entered the market in recent years, Gilbert explained that Butterfly will offer a whole market view, rather than the limited options of suppliers to move that are provided by existing services.

She added: “Generally, I would say auto-switching sites are more expensive because you are paying a retainer fee every year. It’s almost like they have got energy suppliers backed in a corner. It’s like they are saying ‘pay us a retainer and give us a decent tariff or we are going to switch the customer away’.

“They pay a switch fee to get them there in the first place and 12 months later you either pay a retainer or that customer is at risk of being moved away from you. It’s constantly building cost into the industry. Personally I think auto-switchers are really expensive and they build fat into a consumer’s bill that doesn’t need to be there.”

All of Butterfly Energy’s net profit will go to its Butterfly House Foundation where the funding will be used to create local centres and initiatives designed to support the vulnerable.

The service will launch on 4 April.