Call for PM to help consumers address £10bn utilities overcharging scandal
PM should focus on how consumers and their families can empower themselves to save money on energy bills, rather than relying on energy companies and other household suppliers
Onedox, the free automated dashboard for household bills and saving money, is calling on Theresa May to reconsider her calls for potential government action against energy suppliers and instead turn her to attention to how new technology can more effectively solve the problem of two thirds of consumers overpaying for energy and other household services.
David Sheridan, founder of Onedox, says "Across a range of household utilities, not just energy but also including telephone, Internet, mobile and insurance, consumers benefit from a competitive price for an initial period, but are routinely moved on to an uncompetitive deal after that initial period expires. The majority of customers don't move at that point, leading to the situation we see today, where for instance two thirds of energy customers are overpaying to the tune of £2.5 billion per year". Sheridan got the idea for Onedox having become frustrated with how difficult it was to help his Mum manage her bills and to ensure she wasn't getting ripped off.
Figures from Onedox research indicate that across the board, this is costing UK consumers a staggering £10 billion per year in household bills they don't need to be paying. Sheridan goes on to say "whilst some consumers are willing to stay put and pay more for a better quality of service, the reality is that most are not aware of when their contracts end, or how to easily go about checking they are receiving value, in order to make an informed decision about which suppliers they continue to use".
The Competition and Market Authority's recent review of energy suppliers called for a very low-tech solution to try and address the problem - letters through the post from rival firms going out to affected customers. However, according to David Sheridan "this won't bring about meaningful benefit and will simply make matters more confusing rather than more transparent."
Onedox is calling on the Prime Minister to champion independent solutions that empower consumers by alerting them when initial contract periods have ended and where they might get best value afterwards. Based on the average consumer switching with Onedox, over half can save immediately, with average savings on energy bills alone totalling £355.