Half of Brits want fixed deal certainty

Half of all British households want to switch to a fixed energy tariff to provide certainty about their bills, a Uswitch survey has revealed.

A decline in wholesale energy prices means that suppliers are starting to offer fixed deals to the whole market, not just existing customers, for the first time since September 2022.

Last week, So Energy became the first supplier to offer a fixed tariff below July’s price cap. However, the retailer pulled the offer from the market later in the week due to “unforeseen increases in wholesale energy prices” before reinstating the tariff when market prices improved.

Utility Warehouse has also launched a fixed price energy tariff which is £100 below the new price cap, making it the cheapest on the market.

However, Uswitch director of regulation Richard Neudegg said that while fixed deals are now starting to become available “the ‘fix window’ may be small, so households need to be prepared to move quickly if they want the price certainty”.

The Uswitch survey also found that almost six million households are stuck with an energy supplier they never chose, after their previous provider went bust or into special administration.

The survey adds that customers who chose their supplier are more likely to be satisfied with their service (64%) compared to those who didn’t (52%).

Many consumers across the board want to move away from their current providers, with seven in ten (72%) saying they would switch suppliers if they could get a cheaper deal elsewhere.

Neudegg added: “Millions of households have been transferred to suppliers they didn’t choose due to their previous provider falling through the cracks of the energy crisis.

“So it’s no surprise that these customers are the most dissatisfied and eager to switch to a supplier of their own choosing.”

Despite a return to competition, there are concerns about consumers missing out on further savings if they rush to fix their costs now.

Robert Buckley, head of relationship development at Cornwall Insight, recently told Utility Week that consumers should be wary about taking fixed priced deals due to the volatile nature of the market.

He added: “While our cap numbers out for the next couple of quarters are below £2,000 at the moment, we have got no surety that that will continue.”

The latest switching figures released by Energy UK this week show that 150,852 consumers switched to a new supplier in May, down considerably on the 197,620 switches recorded in April.

Despite the dip, the number of switches recorded in May was still 63% higher compared with the same period last year.

Prior to the energy crisis, the number of customers switching supplier each month often exceeded 400,000.