Customers Hunt for Lower Utility Bills as Scottish & Southern Energy Joins British Gas and Raises Prices

LONDON, July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The recent price rises from Scottish & Southern Energy, British Gas and Scottish Power may lead to more householders turning to price comparison sites to seek better deals, according to comparethemarket.com.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has said that one in five families currently struggle to pay their gas and electricity bills, with official figures showing 5.5 million households are affected by fuel poverty. Following the recent price increases from utility companies, experts have warned that the number is now likely to rise to 6.5 million.

Jeremy Moll, Commercial Director at comparethemarket.com, said: "With the price rises coming hard on the heels of the cold winter in 2010 and continuing fears about the economy, we expect to see many more householders looking for savings and specifically fixed deals on their gas and electricity.  

"By clicking on to comparethemarket.com to search for a better deal on their household utility bills in 2010, savvy customers saved themselves £4,695,660 in just one year.* We look forward to helping more customers find better deals on their utility bills this year too."

comparethemarket.com works in partnership with TheEnergyShop.com to help customers find the right product at the right price for them from gas and electricity suppliers.

It also offers comparisons for a number of other household utilities including phone, broadband and digital TV as well as a wide range of insurance and financial products ranging from home, van, bike, life and pet insurance to credit cards and mortgages.

*The saving of £4,695,660 is based on customers making an average saving of £289.44 over the period of January-December 2010

About comparethemarket.com

• comparethemarket.com was launched in 2006 as a motor insurance comparison site, offering customers a wide range of competitively priced insurance quotes instantly online.  It is now one of the UK's leading price comparison brands.  
• As well as insurance, comparethemarket.com now also offers comparisons on credit cards, loans, current accounts and savings accounts.
• comparethemarket.com has grown rapidly over the past three years from 50,000 monthly visitors to around 2.5 million a month
• comparethemarket.com actively selects its brand partners to ensure quality service to consumers.

comparethemarket.com is a trading name of BISL Limited.  BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Registered Address: Pegasus House, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, PE2 6YS. Registered in England number 3231094.

About TheEnergyShop.com

• TheEnergyShop.com is a free, independent and totally impartial service that aims to help customers find the best deals on gas and electricity supplies
• TheEnergyShop.com pulls together prices and information from all suppliers in the UK energy market into a single database. Its proprietary calculators allow database searches according to personal circumstances and preferences, and to compare the best deals available.

TheEnergyShop.com  is a trading name of Energy Services Online Limited. Energy Services Online Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 03798799.

SOURCE comparethemarket.com