ENERGY giants SSE and British Gas account for more than half of customers on poor value tariffs, according to Ofgem.
SSE has come bottom of Ofgem’s new league table ranking the ten largest energy suppliers on how many customers on poor value standard variable tariffs (SVTs) they have.
The findings reveal 71 per cent of SSE’s customers are still on the expensive deals.
The table also shows SVTs are still around £300 more expensive than the cheapest deals on the market.
British Gas ranked second from the bottom with 67 per cent of its customers on SVTs.
Of the ten largest suppliers shown, the three suppliers with the smallest proportion of customers on SVTs are all independent suppliers — First Utility (which comes top), followed by Ovo Energy and Co-Operative Energy.
The decline in the overall number of customers on these tariffs is accelerating thanks to record switching rates in 2017.
As of the end of September, 57 per cent of customers who are not protected under Ofgem’s prepayment safeguard tariff, were on SVTs. This compares to 59 per cent in April of this year.
However, Ofgem believes suppliers, particularly large suppliers with the highest proportion of customers on poor value SVTs, still need to do more to help them get a better deal.
In recent months, some large suppliers have announced plans to use new Ofgem rules to roll customers automatically onto fixed default deals instead of a SVT as part of wider initiatives by suppliers to phase out these tariffs.
Meanwhile, Ofgem set out plans yesterday to extend a safeguard tariff to more vulnerable customers on standard variable and default tariffs to protect them from overpaying for their energy for next winter.
From February next year, one million vulnerable households will be covered by Ofgem’s safeguard tariff. Ofgem is proposing to extend protection to another two million vulnerable households before next winter.
Separately, the Government has published draft legislation for a temporary safeguard tariff for all standard variable and default tariffs, which Ofgem will implement.
The Government’s safeguard tariff will replace Ofgem’s vulnerable safeguard tariff as these vulnerable customers will be covered by the wider protection.
If the Government’s safeguard tariff is in place before winter next year, Ofgem’s vulnerable safeguard tariff will also not need to be extended as proposed.
Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, said the league table: “shows which suppliers have the most work to do to get all their customers a better deal.”
“Some of the larger suppliers have a significantly lower proportion of customers on poor value standard variable deals than SSE, British Gas and E.ON in particular. This shows it is possible to help more of these customers get a better deal and it is unacceptable that so many are still paying too much for their energy.
“Ofgem is protecting some of the most vulnerable in society from overpaying for their energy by extending our safeguard tariff to vulnerable households. We are also working alongside the Government to implement its planned wider safeguard tariff for all customers left on default deals such as standard variable tariffs. In the meantime, we will continue to press suppliers to get all their customers a better deal.”
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