Why small and medium-sized businesses must remain vigilant about assumptive supplier renewal tactics
Small and medium sized businesses in the UK must be wary of the assumptive renewal tactics employed by business electric and business gas suppliers in the UK, warns the Energy Advice Line. For the majority of SME business energy consumers assumptive renewal is common place when the client is coming to the end of a fixed term contract period.
Commercial Director, Julian Morgan states “Suppliers rely on this tactic to roll their clients over onto a further contract duration, which can be as long as 24 months, usually on prices that are more than 30 – 40% above the current retail price. The supplier maximises their margin to the detriment of their client!”
Impartial help and advice…
Given their impartial position in the market, the Energy Advice Line are well placed to help and advise the client as much as possible, but they must be vigilant and gain an understanding of when their contract term expires so that they can take control and plan their renewal. Julian Morgan continues “We advise our clients to obtain a position of authority and confidence as soon as possible by speaking to their supplier and asking them to confirm when their contract term expires”.
The Energy Advice Line also warns that the onus is on the client to terminate their current contract by serving notice of termination for the expiry date given to them by their supplier.
Independent approach…
Being entirely independent of any particular energy supplier, the Energy Advice Line is uniquely placed to provide good impartial advice focused on the specific requirements of a customer. The process of assessment of need, through to switching of supplier is seamless and, critically for the customer, the service is provided at no cost.
Julian Morgan continues: “The Energy Advice Line will do all the legwork for customers, providing an impartial online price comparison service in which the customer can view and evaluate the most competitive offers on the market. We have also developed a ‘Star Rating’ system based on our monitoring of all of the offers available and present the information in an easy-to-read, bite-size format. Given that business electricity and gas customers on renewal are usually contracted by the supplier for a minimum of 12 months it is very important they make the right choice – our aim is to help our clients do this!”
Why use the Energy Advice Line…
The Energy Advice Line offers small and medium sized business customers the option of being able to easily asses their energy needs, and view and compare alternative business electricity and business gas suppliers confidently. Julian Morgan sums up “We provide the customer with all of the information in easy to understand bite-sized chunks so that make the decision in complete confidence without a salesperson at the other end of the telephone trying to pressurise them into making what could be the wrong decision”.
Contact Us…
Please do not hesitate to contact the Energy Advice Line on 0800 915 1800 (local rate) if you require any further information or advice about supplier assumptive renewal tactics.