22 Havering Extra, Summer 2012 Switch your providers By Jeremy Gates


CONSUMERS could waste £337milliona yearbecausetheyare too frightenedto switch energy providers, comparisonserv- ice uSwitch.com says. It saysonly52per centofcustomers


would switch to asupplier outsidethe "big six", though only19per centofusers stick withthe "bigsix"becausetheyare happy withtheir current supplier. USwitch.com saysFirst:Utility currently


offersthe lowest price in the market, but two in 10 people wouldn't movebecause theydon't think they would get abetter dealinthe longer term. Other consumers avoid smallersuppliers


becausethey fear they might go bust. Many people fearlosing their supply if something wentwrong, while 22 per cent wouldn't trust asupplier they hadn't heardof. USwitch.com saysthese fears are


unfounded:ifany energy supplier goes out


of business, Ofgem, the regulator,ensures thatcustomers areautomatically trans- ferredtoanother supplier (the supplier of lastresort), so their supply is not lost. Ann Robinson, director of consumer poli-


cy at uSwitch.com, said: "Thefact is smallersuppliers offer competitive prices and agenuine alternative to being with the 'bigsix' and consumers will be losing out if unfounded fears prevent themfromsnap- pingupsuch deals." For furtherinformation visit


www.uswitch.com or call0800 093 0607.


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