Half a million switched electricity supplier in April

Over the course of April, 498,197 consumers switched electricity supplier, which is a four per cent increase on March’s figures.

This brings the total number of customers who have switched supplier in 2018 to just under 1.8 million, which keep’s pace with last year’s figures, when a record 5.5 million electricity customers (one in six) changed provider over the course of the year.

Energy UK, which published these figures today (16 May), said: “As switching increases year-on-year, so too do the gains by small and mid-tier suppliers with 23 per cent of customers moving from larger suppliers to these providers.”

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Movement between supplier groups in April 2018
– 34 per cent were from larger to small and mid-tier suppliers
– 11 per cent were from small and mid-tier to larger suppliers
– 31 per cent were between larger suppliers
– 23 per cent were between small and mid-tier suppliers
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Energy UK added confidence in switching remains high, with nine in 10 customers happy with the process according to the Energy Switch Guarantee (ESG), a voluntary industry initiative to provide additional consumer confidence in switching.

The guarantee, which now covers more than 90 per cent of the retail market, is a series of commitments designed to ensure switching is simple, speedy and safe.

Lawrence Slade, chief executive of Energy UK said in reaction to the figures: “Almost two million customers have already switched supplier this year. And with the Energy Switch Guarantee in place, consumers can be sure that the process will be simple, speedy and safe.”

These figures do not include internal electricity switching, statistics on this from the larger suppliers and on standard variable tariffs (SVTs) can be viewed on the Ofgem website.