Energy tariffs rise to 800, increasing complexity of choice and making it harder to save money

Traditionally there have been 20 energy tariffs per provider, now there will be 800 – making it harder for consumers to find the right energy tariff to save up to […]

Traditionally there have been 20 energy tariffs per provider, now there will be 800 – making it harder for consumers to find the right energy tariff to save up to £400 per year.

Flipper Community offers a way to disrupt the price comparison market by making energy switching simpler. With machine intelligence it automatically switches its subscribers to the best tariff.

After the widely welcomed Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released its draft energy market report, a number of media outlets highlighted concerns, including the prospect of consumers receiving an increasing number of spam calls from companies asking them to switch.

That could be a problem but it isn’t the main challenge that consumers will face when trying to find a tariff that really and truly meets their needs.

The biggest hurdle comes from the fact that there will be an increasing number of tariffs from which to choose. While it’s good to see energy customers having more choice, the increasing number of available tariffs will increase the hassle and complexity of finding the right one.

Hilal Kanafani, co-founder of automated utility switching site Flipper Community, explains the problem: “The influx of new tariffs will suddenly make the process of searching for the best energy deal, infinitely more of a headache for consumers.

“We think the market will end up seeing an average of about 20 additional tariffs per provider, with some of the larger providers possibly offering more. To put it into context, there are currently 43 energy providers on the market at the moment, meaning that we will be going from about 160 tariffs to more than 800. This is a substantial increase in the number of options for an energy customer to sift through.

“Top that with the fact that tariffs themselves are also going to get more complex with additional discounts and rewards also being allowed. All this is likely to have a negative impact on the number of people that choose to navigate the already complicated energy switching process”

The solution to resolving this complexity, calls for utility switching to become more automated, taking away the hassle that prevents people from switching and giving consumers savings of up to £400 per year. The market needs innovation and Flipper Community is therefore working to help consumers to address these challenges.

Find out how Flipper Community works here.

This is a promoted article.

Latest Podcast