Pandemic dents switching in March

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in fewer people commencing a switch between electricity suppliers than would have been otherwise expected.

New figures from Electralink show around 712,000 customers initiated a switch during March 2020 – a nearly 8 per per cent decrease when compared to the same month last year.

The number was up by almost 10 per cent on February but Electralink said previous years have seen much larger increases of 20 per cent to 33 per cent between the two months.

The company, which operates the Data Transfer Service, said it would normally focus on figures for completed switches when analysing the information but instead decided to examine initiations as this would be more reflective of the impact of the pandemic on switching activity.

Electralink said it remains unclear how the crisis will affect switching activity the longer it goes on.  There may be an increase as furloughed staff with more spare time and heightened financial awareness search for a better deal, although there could also be a decrease as consumers and business prioritise efforts to cope with pandemic.

It did also release the figures for completed switches in March, which fell more than 3 per cent year-on-year to 596,000. Electralink said the decrease was partly the result of record-high switching in March 2019 as a number of tariffs came to an end.

Switches from big six suppliers to challengers brands fell 26 per cent year-on-year to 196,000, but nevertheless accounted for a plurality of the total at roughly a third.

Meanwhile, switches from challenger brands to big six suppliers increased by more than 43 per cent to 93,000 and accounted for nearly 16 per cent of all switches. Switches between challengers brands rose by more than 10 per cent to 166,000 – an all-time high – and made up nearly 28 per cent of the total.