uSwitch.com

Has someone knocked at your door and suggested you could save a small fortune if only you'd allow their employer to supply your gas or electricity? Sometimes they appear in a fluorescent yellow jacket to "check that all's well with your fuel supply and ensure that you're getting your discounts". They tell you about the savings that you can make by signing up with them, but what they never do is show you that they're offering the best deal ...
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The simple answer is that you visit www.uSwitch.com and use their calculators to find the best deal. The site has no links with any of the suppliers that you see on the site – in fact it's owned by private investors and company employees, so it's unbiased. There are details of all suppliers too, and not just those who pay them commission, which, I'm sorry to say, is a failing of more traditional brokers. Its income comes from the commissions ... more

Has someone knocked at your door and suggested you could save a small fortune if only you'd allow their employer to supply your gas or electricity? Sometimes they appear in a fluorescent yellow jacket to "check that all's well with your fuel supply and ensure that you're getting your discounts". They tell you about the savings that you can make by signing up with them, but what they never do is show you that they're offering the best deal available. So, how do you find the best deal?

The simple answer is that you visit www.uSwitch.com and use their calculators to find the best deal. The site has no links with any of the suppliers that you see on the site – in fact it's owned by private investors and company employees, so it's unbiased. There are details of all suppliers too, and not just those who pay them commission, which, I'm sorry to say, is a failing of more traditional brokers. Its income comes from the commissions paid by some suppliers when a customer switches their supply online. There isn't even any advertising on the site and the service is completely free to the consumer.

Well, how does it work? Let's have a look at the homepage first. It loads quickly, even on my rather antiquated connection. It's predominantly white, green and blue and easy on the eye. Around the edges are links to information and advice on why you should switch suppliers and how you should use the site. Contact with the site is easy, should it be needed: there's telephone and fax numbers given as well as an email address. There's even an opportunity for you to tell uSwitch your story of how you've been "done at the door" by unscrupulous salesmen, as they're calling for tougher laws to regulate door-to-door selling. I know I'm an old cynic, but I did wonder if there was an ulterior motive here.

In the centre of the homepage are the links to the calculators. Now these are based on up-to-date information from the suppliers and the regulators so they're accurate. Let's click on the gas and electricity calculators first as they're the reason that the website receives more visitors than all the supplier sites other than British Gas.

"You can save an average of £140 a year" it says. The first time I switched, nearly three years ago, I saved about £90 a year. The two switches I've made since have saved me smaller amounts, but they've still been savings. The first piece of information that you'll need is your postcode so that the search is restricted to companies supplying energy in your area. It doesn't mean that someone's got to come and dig up pipes to your property – it just means that your bill comes from a different company. Why pay more for the same fuel when you can pay less?

Next you'll need details of your current suppliers for Gas and Electricity, how you pay your bill (say by direct debit or on receipt of the bill) and any particular plan that you're on with your supplier, such as Economy 7. You might need a little patience with this page as it updates as you go along, and you can occasionally think that you've lost the information you've already put in.

If you have your last year's fuel bills this is where they'll come in handy, but don't worry if you haven't. You can chose to search for the best deal on the basis of knowing your monthly or annual spend on fuel, your annual consumption in kWh (which gives the most accurate result), the details of your last quarterly bill, or knowing nothing at all. The last option is useful if you're moving to a new property and have no bills to work on. My daughter recently used the site to select her fuel suppliers before she moved into a new house. Choose which details you have available and move on to the next stage.

Next you'll need to choose how you want to pay and there's every possibility listed from prepayment meters through direct debits to paying on receipt of the bill. Paying by direct debit almost always gets you the best deal. You can also chose which services you'd like to have available. Do you want a call centre open seven days a week, or the ability to pay the bill by credit or debit card over the phone? Would you prefer to have a single bill for gas and electricity? The choices are all here.

For a lot of people the choice of an energy supplier doesn't simply come down to the cost of the fuel. It's also possible to choose on the basis of the service ratings of the suppliers or even their Green credentials. These relate to the supply of electricity and are supplied by Friends of the Earth. They're designed to reward those companies who show awareness of their responsibilities towards the environment.

Then it's time for the moment of truth. You get your results! There's usually ten companies listed, with the one providing the best results given first. You're shown the name of the supplier, the plan (with a click link so that you can see what this actually means), the annual saving you could make, the service rating expressed as a percentage and how much your fuel would cost you for the year. There's even an opportunity to sign up online in some cases. I've done this twice now and everything went without a hitch.

Do remember that the actual transfer can take between four and six weeks and if you have an outstanding balance with your current supplier you'll need to settle this. If I have one quibble with this site it's that it isn't made very clear that you will need to settle any outstanding bill before transfer. If you pay a fixed sum each month by direct debit and change suppliers at the end of winter when the bills have been at their highest you might need to find quite a substantial sum.

Energy supply forms the main part of the site's traffic and has done ever since it was launched in September 2000, but you can also check on the best deal for Digital TV and home telephones. For many areas of the country digital television is only available through Sky, but where there is a choice uSwitch details all the packages available and the cost, including installation. For me this part of the site hasn't proved particularly useful, as the only choice I have is which of the Sky packages I'd like. It's of rather more use if one of the cable companies has already dug up your street!

Most people will do rather better with regard to telephones as the site suggests that savings of up to 90% are possible. This is perhaps a little optimistic as it does assume that you start from the basis of being on BT's least generous tariff whilst regularly making a lot of calls. Hopefully there aren't many people in that situation. Very little information is required to start the process of obtaining a quote – just the details of who charges you for your line rental, your tariff and how the bills are paid. You're also asked if you use this line supplier for all your telephone calls.

You'll then need to think about how you use the telephone. Roughly how many calls do you make each day? When do you make them? Are your calls local, national, international, to mobiles or a mixture? Do you regularly call a particular mobile network? You can then choose how you wish to pay your bill and the type of service you require, such as having to dial a prefix number, using an auto-dialler, carrier pre-selection or considering all options. You really can find the supplier best suited to your preferences.

Your results will show the best deals for you giving the name of the supplier, the particular plan (with details available, if appropriate), the annual savings you could make, any costs of installation, and the total cost to you. In some instances there is a link so that you can switch online.

Very little personal information has been supplied to obtain the quotes, but more is required if you decide to switch online. These pages are secure. There is also an undertaking that information will not be rented, traded or sold to others – so you're not going to end up will an in-box or post box full of spam as a result of visiting the site. The only information which will be passed on is that which goes to your new supplier.

Their aim is to make it as simple as possible to compare and switch suppliers. I visit this site at least once every three months. The fact that you've changed suppliers once doesn't mean that you've still got the best deal going. The companies who supply these services are out to make a profit and they rely on our apathy when prices rise. Did you know that prices have risen recently? In April nPower increased its gas charges by 4.3% and changed its electricity tariff. Scottish Power imposed an extra £5 charge for direct debit users and standard credit users will pay an extra £10 from April. British Gas has increased charges by 2.5%, but Powergen has hiked its gas prices by a whopping 6.2% from May 2003. Your supplier could be out-of-line with the best.

Go and have a look. You'll often find links to the site on Ciao. It's very simple to use and it's only going to take a few minutes of your time. You might be surprised at the savings that you can make. If you've got the best deals then you can look smug and those door-to-door salesmen will get a very sharp answer won't they? 

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