Well that's the point.
I'm wary of switching . I'm on low income. Looking up new suppliers I get confused. Doing internet research and get totally contradictory views.
A publicly owned utility with democratic control would be big improvement on present state of affairs.
The market is a clusterfuck yes and switching can be difficult and impenetrable for people that haven't done it before. Far more so than it should be and it puts a lot of people at a disadvantage. Once you get in the habit it becomes easier, when you switch each year you know the process and you also have an idea of how many units you use in a year because you'll have an opening and closing balance. But if you don't switch and are on a variable rate (SVR) then you *are* getting rinsed most likely. Best case keep switching, worst case, make sure you keep moving on to the best fixed deal for a year that your current supplier can offer you, which means you do sadly have to contact them.
Uswitch is easy once you know how. If you keep your bills, you should be able to work out how many units approx you have used over the past year, by looking at the bill a year ago compared to your most recent one. Or you can ring your supplier and ask them how many you have used in a year if you don't have your bills. There is also a QR code that you can scan on your most recent bill using the Uswitch (or another comparison site's app). I have never used this as I'd rather be most accurate with readings) but it is data that gives you a mean usage, or something like that over the year). Chuck all that in Uswitch and it will list you the deals, with the cheapest one at the top. Pick one and the Uswitch will send all those details to the new supplier who will email you from there and sort the switch.
The challenge you might have from there is that because so many residences have been carved up into flats in recent years, the central metering database isn't necessarily accurate, and so when you switch you may end up arguing about your address and which meter supplies your property - which can be a real pain. But there are reference numbers on the meter which should correspond to what is on the bill. If you know which one your meter is that should be easy to sort out. It doesn't happen for everybody but it does occasionally though once corrected it should remain that way on the database.
So, the first time it
may take a bit of effort, but is definitely worth it. And then Uswitch (or whomever) will email you when the year's contract is nearly up and remind you to plug in your details again and see if you can get a cheaper deal (well cheap
est) because the price keeps going up.
It is a really messed up system and it *is* intimidating for a lot of people but worth an hour of your time. IMO.
