Can You Afford Not To Change Supplier?

This month sees three of the Big Six energy companies hiking their prices again, and it can only be a matter of time before the other three follow suit. The Lettings Hub has been working behind the scenes, to develop a new Utility Management Service that will help save our tenants and landlords money on their energy bills.

With Scottish Power increasing its standard energy prices by an average 7.8%, affecting 1.1m customers and adding £86 a year to a typical dual-fuel bill, npower raising standard energy dual-fuel variable tariffs by 9.8% and EDF raising the cost of its electricity by 8.4%. Many households will soon be feeling the pinch.

According to an article in This Is Money, published in 2016, customers of the Big Six energy suppliers throw away £4 billion a year by staying on the most expensive tariffs. It claimed Big Six households overpaid on their energy bills by an average of £292.

It’s no surprise then that 2.3 million families live in fuel poverty in England, according to an article published last month in The Guardian. If true, this means that 1 in 10 households are currently struggling to afford to sufficiently heat their homes. That figure rises to 1 in 5 for those renting from private landlords; which could account for some of the 17% of ageing housing stock that are currently rated with an EPC rating lower than E (see our article on EPC changes to legislation for further information) in the Private Rental Sector.

The article goes on to claim that of the affected households renting from a private landlord, single parents with dependent children are at the highest risk with almost 25% in fuel poverty. We’re sure you’ll agree this is worrying news for our industry.

Clive Lewis, the former Shadow Business Secretary, said “The Government has done nothing to enforce advice from watchdog Ofgem that there should be no hikes. Britain is facing an energy bill crisis, with over 2 million families who can’t afford their bills.”
Despite repeated calls from politicians for people to switch to a better deal, uSwitch research shows that only four in 10 households have changed energy supplier. The same research showed that there are many misconceptions about how hard it is to switch energy suppliers. For example, some believed their cables and pipes would have to be replaced or that they couldn’t change as they only rented and weren’t the property owner.
The truth is consumers aren’t always aware of how easy it is to switch to a better energy deal, with younger tenants being particularly confused. We want to help combat these statistics by educating tenants so that they can make informed choices and better manage their household bills.

Our Utility Management Service – Helping You Save

At a time, when so much new legislation is targeting energy efficiency in the home and the largest energy providers are indicating price rises, it has never been so important to try to help tenants help themselves by budgeting for their energy bills and increasing awareness that there are better deals out there.

Just Lets – Peterborough have partnered with The Lettings Hub to offer tenants unbiased recommendations and give straightforward, easy to understand advice on how to choose the best energy and media deals to suit their circumstances. There’s no hard sell involved. We search the whole market, working with both big and small suppliers to bring them the best tariffs currently available. Our tenants won’t have to spend hours on the phone as we have direct access to suppliers so we are able to bypass the switchboards and speak to them directly. We also enjoy a priority booking service, which means we can help our tenants get their media and telecoms packages installed faster, as this can take up to 2 weeks in some cases. In addition, we also offer a free annual review every year to help tenants ensure they remain on the best tariffs available.

Start to Save – Now!

For more information on our Utility Management Service, and to see if you can save on your energy and media suppliers contact Just Lets – Peterborough…..Sooner the better!

Email: Peterborough@ www.www.justlets.com
Tel: 01733 346255

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Just Lets Residential Property Management was established in 1990 as a letting agent to provide good quality, reliable and professional service.

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