British Gas, npower and E.ON accused of overcharging on insulation schemes

Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie has accused major energy suppliers including British Gas, npower and E.ON of overcharging on energy savings insulation schemes.

As reported by the Carnoustie Guide & Gazette, the MP investigated the prices charged by major suppliers after questions were raised by his constituents.

Mr. Hosie commented: "Using information supplied by the Energy Saving Trust and Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre, which monitor the prices for services provided by energy companies, I was able to compare prices charged by nine different companies for similar work on home insulation schemes."

The MP believes that some suppliers are overcharging certain categories of customer for work that they could have had done at up to half the price elsewhere.

For instance, British Gas are reported as charging customers £250 for top-up loft insulation, whilst npower ask their customers for £149 to carry out the same work.

Moreover, Mr. Hosie identified significant differences in the charges applied to non-customers: for the same work, npower were found to be charging non-customers £365; more than double what the company would bill existing customers.

British Gas, npower and Powergen, also known as E.ON, were found to be amongst the worst culprits.

SuperSwitcher MD Fred Rojahn commented "this clearly shows that significant price differences exist among suppliers for even the most standardised products. Customers are therefore well advised to always shop around for the best deal. By investing just a couple of minutes of their time, customers stand to save hundreds of Pounds, including on their gas and electricity: at the moment, the average UK household can save up to £378 a year by switching to a cheaper deal.

Online comparison sites such as SuperSwitcher offer the easiest way of doing this; in particular with SuperSwitcher's free online account management tool, customers can compare all UK energy tariffs and suppliers in mere seconds, with a single 'click'."