Number of Energy Supply switches to Challenger Suppliers hit highest ever level

Increased Switching

There were 621,000 energy supply switches recorded and completed in October, a 4% increase on the same period last year and was a 20% increase on the previous month of September 2020.

The figures mean that October was the highest month of the year so far for energy switching and is now the third highest since records began. It’s also the first time since April 2019 that changes of supplier figures have surpassed 600,000.

So far this year a total of 5.1 million energy switches have been completed in 2020, a figure that is 3% lower than on the same 10-month period in 2019.

The fact that the figure is only slightly lower than last year suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic has had less of an impact than initially thought on consumers choosing to switch their energy supplier.

The data also shows that 2020 is following a similar trend to 2019 with September being a stronger month for switches started than October.

Also read: 6 reasons why consumers switch energy suppliers

Switches to Challenger Energy Suppliers hit record high

Smaller challenger energy suppliers continue to snap up market share with the number of consumers switching to them reaching their highest ever level.

The Big Six continue to lose customers to the challengers and for the first time ever the number of consumers switching between Big Six companies decreased as well.

The number of Big Six to Big Six switches fell by 18% year on year to 124,000 a figure that comprised 20% of October’s total completed energy switches.

In contrast the number of switches from the Big Six to challenger companies climbed 0.2% year on year to 209,000 and made up 34% of the total number of completed switches.

This latest data also shows that the Big Six are facing mounting challenges when it comes to keeping and attracting customers. The number of consumers choosing to move away from challenger suppliers to the Big

Six numbered just 95,000- 5% less than the number recorded in October 2019 and comprised 15% of total switches in October 2020.

Also read: Number of consumers switching to challenger energy suppliers increased strongly in June

Fierce competition

The competition between challenger energy suppliers intensified further in October with the number of challenger-to-challenger switches reaching 193,000- 38% higher than the number in recorded in October 2019 and made up 31% of the total switches recorded in October 2020.

Further reading

Energy Suppliers announce opposition to Green Gas Levy plans

Energy Price Forecast 2021: Covid-19, Brexit and much more

Young consumers struggling the most to pay energy bills says Ofgem Covid-19 report

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