The big six energy suppliers have concluded the latest round of budget-busting price hikes, with Npower now offering the cheapest tariff.
The company’s online tariff, Sign Online, will cost the average household £795 when paying by direct debit, which is £24 cheaper than the next best priced supplier, EDF.
Don’t get the tariffs confused
Yet while Npower’s online customers are enjoying a competitive deal, those languishing on the supplier’s standard tariff and paying on receipt of bill are being forced to shell out a massive £1,056 for their energy – a difference of £261.
No other provider in the market has anywhere near as wide a price gap between tariffs, and it's essential you don’t get confused between the two if you’re looking to switch to a cheaper tariff.
Despite their dire situation, Npower’s standard tariff customers are still better off than Scottish Power’s, who will now have to hand over a whopping £1100 every year.
Make sure you’re on the best tariff
The table below gives you a rough overview of what you can expect to pay with each supplier.
It’s important you don’t base your choice solely on the figures below, as suppliers tend to offer discounts in areas they are looking to grow their customer base.
Visit a price comparison site like uSwitch to find the best deal in your area.
| Standard Plan (direct debit) | Standard Plan (receipt of bill) | Online Plan (monthly direct debit) | Difference between standard and online plan |
| SSE | £952 | £1,006 | £896 | £110 |
| EDF | £965 | £1,007 | £819 | £188 |
| British Gas | £968 | £1,055 | £880 | £175 |
| Npower | £972 | £1,056 | £795 | £261 |
| E.On | £967 | £1,063 | £891 | £172 |
| ScottishPower | £959 | £1,100 | £886 | £214 |
| Average | £964 | £1,048 | £861 | £187 |
Who were the biggest losers in the price war?
Scottish and Southern Energy was the last provider to hike its energy rates, doing so at the start of this month.
Now that the dust has settled, how did your particular tariff fare? If you were a customer of EDF, then congratulations: you were the least affected by the latest hikes, with an average increase of 11%, or £100 on your annual bills.
For E.On customers the news wasn’t quite so positive, after the supplier announced a 16% (£150) hike. Npower customers fared little better, with an additional £148 making the trip from wallet to supplier.
| Pre-price rise bill | Post-price rise bill | £ increase | % increase |
| Npower | £908 | £1,056 | £148 | 16% |
| EDF Energy | £907 | £1,007 | £100 | 11% |
| British Gas | £912 | £1,055 | £143 | 16% |
| ScottishPower | £958 | £1,100 | £142 | 15% |
| E.On | £913 | £1,063 | £150 | 16% |
| SSE | £875 | £1,006 | £131 | 15% |
| Average | £912 | £1,048 | £136 | 15% |
Good news and bad newsAs extortionate as prices may be, uSwitch thinks we could be in for a further 10% rise before year end, adding another £100 to every household’s energy bill.
Make sure you’re on the cheapest possible tariff now, and be prepared to switch again if and when the energy suppliers hike prices again.
There could be some good news on the horizon, at least. Energy regulator Ofgem is promising to get tough on energy providers who give their customers bad service.
Ofgem says it will be auditing all suppliers on how they handle complaints and will impose “heavy fines” of up to 10% of turnover if they fail to meet the new standards, which will come into force from 1 July.
So what can we expect?
• customers will no longer have to repeat all the details of the complaint if they need to contact the supplier again;
• suppliers will no longer be able to insist that complaints are put in writing before they can be properly considered; and
• companies will have to publish information, which will be verified by Ofgem, on the number of complaints they receive. This will enable customers to judge which companies provide the best service.
British Gas needs to buck up
No doubt the company that will need to improve the most is British Gas, which was flagged up as one of the nation’s worst for customer service in a report by Citizens Advice Bureau in February.
According to the report, a massive 81% of customers who contacted their gas supplier said they were either “dissatisfied or very dissatisfied” with the way their last call had been handled.
And British Gas customers were the most likely to suffer, accounting for nearly three quarters (71%) of these calls, despite the fact the company accounts for less than half (46%) the market.
