Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
A third of consumers in the UK are unaware of the commission suppliers receive through switches on price comparison websites, according to values comparison platform B.heard.
The study of 1000 consumers reveals that 34 per cent are unaware of the commission companies earn from each switch and 43 per cent lose trust in comparison sites after they find out, with 32 per cent intending to use them less in the future as a result.
The research follows calls from the Archbishop of Canterbury last week for more transparent switching sites across all sectors, with full disclosure of commissions.
B.heard founder and chief executive Oscar Vickerman said: “All too often, organisations become cut off from consumers’ voices and no longer hear what they have to say about the services they provide, making them inefficient to the point where neither they nor the consumer benefit.”
The data also indicated that consumers are prepared to pay more for trusted services away from the ‘big five’ price comparison sites, uSwitch, Go Compare, Money Supermarket, Compare the Market and Confised.com.
A spokesman from Compare the Market said: “The findings from this survey, based on a small sample size, do not tally with other respected industry figures.
“Certainly, we do not recognise the 34 per cent figure cited as being indicative of the general population’s understanding of price comparison websites (PCWs) and their interaction with them.
“There is also no additional cost to consumers for using our service. We reject the findings of this research as being representative of the UK public and any assertion that the majority of people are unaware of how PCWs operate.”
Please login or Register to leave a comment.