Monarch explores the savings that housing associations could offer their tenants by switching energy supplier, and what not switching might be costing them.

Every little helps

Since the UK economy was ravaged by pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people have been left in financial uncertainty. Widespread redundancy and furloughs have only compounded this anxiety and, between April and June, lockdown triggered a 20.4% contraction in the UK economy.

As such, tenants now seek any means to conserve and save money that they can find. Fortunately, housing associations might be able to provide such savings by switching energy supplier at the end of their next fixed term.

Bills are not typically associated with saving money, however one energy provider has found that many are overpaying on their supply.

A recent study conducted indicates that the UK as a whole will overpay by more than £3bn this year.

The key outrage is that it is loyal customers that are footing this additional bill. Long-term customers are paying, on average, 28% more than new payers who have joined on cheaper rates.

In addition, the report indicated an increase of 53% in these overpayments from loyal energy users since last year.

A siren song

Earlier this month, energy regulator Ofgem announced a cut to standard tariff price caps, however there is a sentiment that, while well intended, this will ultimately distract energy users from the maximum savings they could be making.

“It’s important this price cut doesn’t lull people into a false sense of security that they’re paying a good price for their energy… The 11 million households on a standard tariff are almost certainly massively overpaying now, and will continue to massively overpay even after the cut.”

-James Longeley, Utilitybidder

The increased instance of people working from home after coronavirus means that domestic energy bills will increase proportionately. 25 million members of the UK workforce are expected to be working from home going forward, and face a 30% increase in energy bills as a result.

“The cheapest deals on the market are an average £250 plus per year cheaper than the new standard rates, and as we’re using more energy than usual as we’re at home more, it’s a key bill to sort out now.

Guy Anker, deputy editor of MoneySavingExpert.com

The major difficulty in changing supplier lies in the expertise needed to effectively analyse would-be replacements. Monarch takes responsibility for this process, our procurement team analyses prices daily to guarantee our customers the best possible value for money.

Delegating the process to Monarch means that landlords and housing associations can focus on tenant experience safe in the knowledge that their energy needs are being expertly managed.

Additionally, Monarch can also provide a bill validation service to check and rectify possible discrepancies such as the overpayments previously discussed. To find out more about our services, you can visit the Monarch website.