Shamed energy giants continue to rip customers off by almost £400 a year
Consumer watchdog Which? founds three-quarters of families are still being taken for a ride by the Big Six energy firms
ENERGY giants have been blasted for making no effort to shift customers from rip-off deals.
The accusation comes after The Sun revealed last month the Big Six firms are charging families £6billion more than they should pay every year.
Seven in ten customers are on suppliers’ most expensive tariffs, paying as much as £389 a year more than those on the best deals offered, our analysis revealed.
But research by Which? found three-quarters have not been contacted about changing their tariff in four months.
Energy firms had promised to do more to encourage people to switch. The Sun wants all energy firms to transfer these customers on to their cheapest deals automatically.
Which? challenged them to publish plans by January 31 on how they intend to help move customers to better deals. It said suppliers were in the “last chance saloon”.
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The watchdog also said government regulator Ofgem “must be ready to act if companies fail to deliver for their customers”.
Alex Neill, Which? head of home and legal services, said: “After a two-year inquiry the energy companies must prove they are taking action to genuinely engage with customers stuck on the worst deals.”
A Which? survey also found nearly nine in ten people think it is the responsibility of their energy company to make sure they understand their bills.
Ofgem said: "We want suppliers to engage more actively with customers, particularly those on standard variable tariffs, to help them get a better deal. This month for example we began a consultation on requiring suppliers to take part in trials to test the most effective ways of doing this.
"The large suppliers have already seen their market share fall from 99 per cent to less than 85 per cent in four years.
"Suppliers who do not engage with their customers to offer them better deals risk losing more customers to rival suppliers who do."
Consumers Minister Margot James said: "Energy markets must work for all consumers and the Government is committed to making that happen.
"It isn't right that customers are paying a penalty for loyalty which is why the Government has worked to improve competition.
"We now have over 40 companies competing in the market which means consumers have more choice than ever before."