October saw highest switching rate since April 2019

More than 620,000 electricity switches occurred in October, the most so far in 2020 and the highest since April 2019.

Switching figures took a slump during lockdown and recent figures published by the government revealed the number of customers switching their gas or electricity supply in the second quarter of 2020 fell to a two-year low. In Q2, the number of switches in electricity was down 13.1 per cent year-on-year while gas saw a slump of 20.7 per cent on the same period in 2019.

Yet according to Electralink’s Energy Market Data Hub (EMDH) 621,000 changes of supplier (CoS) were recorded in October, 4 per cent more than during the same period last year and 20 per cent more than in September 2020.

Furthermore, last month’s figures mark the third highest month since records began.

Of CoS types switches between challenger brands were at their highest ever at 193,000, 38 per cent more than October last year and 31 percent of October 2020’s total switches completed.

Electralink’s latest data chimes with a recent study by Ofgem which found that significantly more energy customers said they were in the process of switching or were looking to do so in October than earlier in the pandemic.

The regulator’s data found 12 per cent of consumers were in the process of switching or actively looking for a new supplier, a significant increase from 10 per cent in May. Furthermore, around a quarter of all customers (23 per cent) were thinking about switching.

Electralink meanwhile added that while so far this year completed electricity switches currently sit at 5.1 million, which is 3 per cent last than last year, switches started in October were still high – reaching 689,000 – 2 per cent more than October 2019 but nine per cent less than September 2020.

In comparison, CoS started in October 2019 ranked five per cent less than September last year, which the company believes indicates a wider gap may be on the cards for switches completed next month.

Electralink’s figures comprise only those switches which are not due to trade sales, supplier of last resort (SoLR) processes or internal portfolio reallocations, yet the company noted that including those event types, more than 1 million MPANs have been put into the CoS process in each of the past two months.

The larger legacy suppliers continued to see losses to challengers, as well as a decrease in switches between the former big six:

• Big six to big six switches dropped to 124,000 – 18 per cent less than October 2019 and 20 per cent of October 2020’s total switches completed
• Big six to challenger switches reached 209,000 – 0.2 per cent more than October 2019 and 34 per cent of October 2020’s total switches
• Challenger to big six switches landed at 95,000 – five per cent less than October 2019 and 15 per cent of October 2020’s total switches
• Challenger to challenger switches reached 193,000 – 38 per cent more than October 2019 and 31 per cent of October 2020’s total switches

Energy UK

Elsewhere in the sector trade body Energy UK also released its latest switching stats which measured more than 591,000 switches for October and just under 5 million in total this year.

According to the trade body in October, of all switches:

• 35 per cent were from larger to small and mid-tier suppliers
• 16 per cent were from small and mid-tier to larger suppliers
• 23 per cent were between larger suppliers
• 26 per cent were between small and mid-tier suppliers

Energy UK has previously said that discrepancies between its figures and those of Electralink likely arise from differences in their definitions of switches, including when they are judged to have been completed, as well as the way they are reported.

Following the publication of the trade body’s figures chief executive Emma Pinchbeck said it was “very encouraging” to see more than half a million customers switch supplier in October which, she added, was typically the highest month of the year for switching.